G/C 


Theodore  Roosevelt  in  Hunting  Costume. 
Drawn  by  Henry  Sandham.     Engraved  by  E.  Heinemann. 


PRESIDENTIAL  EDITION 


HUNTING  TRIPS  OF 
A  RANCHMAN 

SKETCHES  OF  SPORT  ON  THE  NORTHERN 
CATTLE  PLAINS 


BY 


THEODORE  ROOSEVELT 

AUTHOR  OF  "HISTORY  OF  THE  NAVAL  WAR  OF  1812,"  "THE  WINNING  OF 

THE  WEST,"  "  THE  WILDERNESS  HUNTER  " 

"AMERICAN  IDEALS,"  ETC. 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

Ifcnfcfcerbocfter  press 


COPYRIGHT  BY 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

1885 


Vbe  ftnicfecrbocfeer  presi,  Hew  fiock 


TO    THAT 
KEENEST  OF   SPORTSMEN 

AND 
TRUEST  OF   FRIENDS 

MY   BROTHER 
ELLIOTT    ROOSEVELT 


iii 


INTRODUCTORY    NOTE 


The  seven  heads  of  large  game  figured  in  this  book 
are  faithfully  copied  from  the  originals,  shot  by  myself, 
and  now  in  my  possession  ;  the  proportions  have  been 
verified  with  the  camera. 

The  other  engravings  and  etchings  are  for  the  most 
part  based  on  photographs  of  scenery,  costumes,  etc., 
taken  by  myself  while  in  the  West,  and  are  accurate  rep- 
resentations of  Western  landscapes,  as  also  of  ranch  life 
and  hunting  on  the  plains. 

Most,  although  by  no  means  all,  of  my  hunting  has 
been  done  on  the  Little  Missouri  River,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  my  two  ranches,  the  Elkhorn  and  Chimney 
Butte ;  the  nearest  town  being  the  little  hamlet  of 
Medora — so  named,  I  may  mention  for  the  benefit  of 
the  future  local  historian,  in  honor  of  the  wife  of  the 
Marquis  de  Mores,  one  of  the  first  stockmen  to  come 

to  the  place. 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 

CHIMNEY  BUTTE  RANCH, 
MEDORA,  DAKOTA, 
May,  1885. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
RANCHING    IN    THE   BAD    LANDS. 

The  northern  cattle  plains — Stock-raising — Cowboys,  their  dress  and  character— 
My  ranches  in  the  Bad  Lands  of  the  Little  Missouri — Indoor  amusements — 
Books — Pack-rats — Birds — Ranch  life — The  round-up — Indians — Ephemeral 
nature  of  ranch  life — Foes  of  the  stockmen — Wolves,  their  ravages — Fighting 
with  dogs — Cougar — My  brother  kills  one — One  killed  by  blood-hounds — The 
chase  one  of  the  chief  pleasures  of  ranch  life — Hunters  and  cowboys — 
Weapons — Dress — Hunting-horses — Target-shooting  and  game-shooting  .  1 

CHAPTER  II. 
WATER-FOWL. 

Stalking  wild  geese  with  rifle — Another  goose  killed  in  early  morning — Snow- 
goose  shot  with  rifle  from  beaver  meadow — Description  of  plains  beaver — Its 
rapid  extinction  —Ducks — Not  plenty  on  cattle  plains — Teal — Duck-shooting 
in  course  of  wagon  trip  to  eastward — Mallards  and  wild  geese  in  cornfields — 
Eagle  and  ducks — Curlews — Noisiness  and  curiosity — Grass  plover — Skunks  .  43 

CHAPTER  III. 
THE    GROUSE   OF    THE    NORTHERN    CATTLE    PLAINS. 

Rifle  and  shot-gun — Sharp-tailed  prairie  fowl — Not  of  ten  regularly  pursued — Killed 
for  pot — Booming  in  spring — Their  young — A  day  after  them  with  shot-gun  in 
August — At  that  time  easy  to  kill — Change  of  habits  in  fall — Increased  wari- 
ness— Shooting  in  snow-storm  from  edge  of  canyon — Killing  them  with  rifle  in 
early  morning — Trip  after  them  made  by  my  brother  and  myself — Sage- 
fowl — The  grouse  of  the  desert — Habits — Good  food — Shooting  them — Jack- 
rabbit — An  account  of  a  trip  made  by  my  brother,  in  Texas,  after  wild 
turkey — Shooting  them  from  the  roosts — Coursing  them  with  greyhounds  .  66 

CHAPTER  IV. 
THE   DEER   OF    THE    RIVER    BOTTOMS. 

The  White-tail  deer  best  known  of  American  large  game — The  most  difficult  to 
exterminate — A  buck  killed  in  light  snow  about  Christmas-time — The  species 


viii     Hunting  Trips  of  a  Ranchman. 

very  canny — Two  "tame  fawns" — Habits  of  deer — Pets — Method  of  still- 
hunting  the  white-tail — Habits  contrasted  with  those  of  antelope — Wagon 
trip  to  the  westward — Heavy  cloud-burst — Buck  shot  while  hunting  on  horse- 
back— Moonlight  ride  .  .  -. 102 

CHAPTER  V. 
THE   BLACK-TAIL   DEER. 

The  black-tail  and  white-tail  deer  compared — Different  zones  where  game  are 
found — Hunting  on  horseback  and  on  foot — Still-hunting — Anecdotes — 
Rapid  extermination — First  buck  shot — Buck  shot  from  hiding-place — Differ- 
ent qualities  required  in  hunting  different  kinds  of  game — Still-hunting  the 
black-tail  a  most  noble  form  of  sport — Dress  required — Character  of  habitat — 
Bad  Lands — Best  time  for  shooting,  at  dusk — Difficult  aiming — Large  buck 
killed  in  late  evening — Fighting  capacity  of  bucks — Appearance  of  black-tail 
— Difficult  to  see  and  to  hit — Indians  poor  shots — Riding  to  hounds — Track- 
ing— Hunting  in  fall  weather — Three  killed  in  a  day's  hunting  on  foot — A  hunt 
on  horseback — Pony  turns  a  somersault — Two  bucks  killed  by  one  ball  at  very 
long  range 126 

CHAPTER  VI. 
A    TRIP   ON    THE    PRAIRIE. 

The  prong-horn  antelope — Appearance,  habits,  and  method  of  hunting — Hunting 
on  horseback — Wariness,  speed,  curiosity,  and  incapacity  to  make  high  jumps — 
Fawns  as  pets — Eagles — Horned  frogs — Rattlesnakes — Trip  on  the  prairie  in 
June — Sights  and  sounds — Desolate  plains — Running  antelope — Night  camp — 
Prairie  dogs — Badgers — Skylarks — A  long  shot — Clear  weather — Camping 
among  Medicine  Buttes — Sunset  on  plateau  .- 180 

CHAPTER  VII. 
A    TRIP    AFTER    MOUNTAIN    SHEEP. 

Spell  of  bitter  weather — News  brought  of  mountain  sheep — Start  after  them — 
False  alarm  about  bear — Character  of  Bad  Lands — Description  of  mountain 
sheep  or  big-horn — Its  wariness — Contrasted  with  other  game — Its  haunts — 
The  hardest  of  all  game  to  successfully  hunt — Our  trip — Cold  weather  and 
tiresome  walking — Very  rough  ground — Slippery,  ice-covered  crags — Ram 
killed 220 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE   LORDLY   BUFFALO. 

Extinction  of  the  vast  herds — Causes — A  veritable  tragedy  of  the  animal  world- 
Sentimental  and  practical  sides — Traces  left  by  buffalo— Skulls  and  trails — 
Merciless  destruction  by  hunters  and  by  cattle-men — Development  of  mountain 
race  of  the  buffalo — Buffalo-hunting — Noble  sport — Slight  danger — A  man 
killed — My  brother  charged — Adventure  of  my  cousin  with  a  wounded  buffalo 


Contents. 


IX 


—Three  of  my  men  and  wounded  cow — Buffalo  and  cattle — Hunting  them  on 
foot — Hunting  on  horseback — My  brother  in  Texas — I  take  a  trip  in  buffalo 
country — Wounded  bull  escapes — Miserable  night  camp— Miss  a  cow  in  rain 
— Bad  luck — Luck  turns — Kill  a  bull — A  wagon-trip 241 

CHAPTER  IX. 
STILL-HUNTING   ELK   ON    THE   MOUNTAINS. 

Former  range  of  elk — Rapid  destruction — Habits — Persecuted  by  hunters — Other 
foes — Lordly  game — Trip  to  Bighorn  Mountains — Managing  pack-train — See 
elk  and  go  into  camp — Follow  up  band  in  moccasins — Kill  two — Character  of 
the  deep  woods — Sights  and  sounds  of  the  forest — Blue  grouse — Snow — Cold 
weather — Trout — Calling  of  bull  elk — Killing  elk  in  burned  timber — Animals 
of  the  wilderness — Kill  great  bull  elk — Kill  another 271 

CHAPTER  X. 
OLD     EPHRAIM. 

Dangerous  game,  but  much  less  dangerous  than  formerly — Old-time  hunters 
and  weapons — Grizzly  and  other  ferocious  wild  beasts — Only  fights  if  wounded 
— Anecdotes  of  their  killing  and  wounding  men — Attacks  stock — Our  hunting 
on  the  Bighorn  Mountains — Merrifield  kills  black  bear — Grizzly  almost  comes 
into  camp — Tracks  of  grizzly — Watch  for  one  at  elk  carcass — Follow  him  up 
and  kill  him — Merrifield  kills  one — Five  shot  with  seven  bullets — She  and 
cub  killed — Return  home  .  297 

ADDENDUM 322 

INDEX 325 


HUNTING  TRIPS 


OF   A 


RANCHMAN 


CHAPTER    I. 


RANCHING    IN    THE    BAD    LANDS. 


HE  great  middle  plains  of  the 
United  States,  parts  of  which 
are  still  scantily  peopled  by  men 
of  Mexican  parentage,  while 
other  parts  have  been  but  recently 
won  from  the  warlike  tribes  of  Horse 
Indians,  now  form  a  broad  pastoral 
belt,  stretching  in  a  north  and  south  line 
from  British  America  to  the  Rio  Grande. 
Throughout  this  great  belt  of  grazing  land  almost  the 
only  industry  is  stock-raising,  which  is  here  engaged  in  on 
a  really  gigantic  scale  ;  and  it  is  already  nearly  covered 
with  the  ranches  of  the  stockmen,  except  on  those  isolated 
tracts  (often  themselves  of  great  extent)  from  which  the 
red  men  look  hopelessly  and  sullenly  out  upon  their  old 
hunting-grounds,  now  roamed  over  by  the  countless  herds 
of  long-horned  cattle.  The  northern  portion  of  this  belt 
is  that  which  has  been  most  lately  thrown  open  to  the 
whites  ;  and  it  is  with  this  part  only  that  we  have  to  do. 


2         Ranching  in  tke  Bad  Lands. 

The  northern  cattle  plains  occupy  the  basin  of  the 
Upper  Missouri  ;  that  is,  they  occupy  all  of  the  land 
drained  by  the  tributaries  of  that  river,  and  by  the  river 
itself,  before  it  takes  its  long  trend  to  the  southeast.  They 
stretch  from  the  rich  wheat  farms  of  Central  Dakota  to 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  southward  to  the  Black  Hills 
and  the  Big  Horn  chain,  thus  including  all  of  Montana, 
Northern  Wyoming,  and  extreme  Western  Dakota.  The 
character  of  this  rolling,  broken,  plains  country  is  every- 
where much  the  same.  It  is  a  high,  nearly  treeless  region, 
of  light  rainfall,  crossed  by  streams  which  are  sometimes 
rapid  torrents  and  sometimes  merely  strings  of  shallow 
pools.  In  places  it  stretches  out  into  deserts  of  alkali  and 
sage  brush,  or  into  nearly  level  prairies  of  short  grass, 
extending  for  many  miles  without  a  break  ;  elsewhere 
there  are  rolling  hills,  sometimes  of  considerable  height ; 
and  in  other  places  the  ground  is  rent  and  broken  into  the 
most  fantastic  shapes,  partly  by  volcanic  action  and  partly 
by  the  action  of  water  in  a  dry  climate.  These  latter  por- 
tions form  the  famous  Bad  Lands.  Cotton-wood  trees 
fringe  the  streams  or  stand  in  groves  on  the  alluvial  bot- 
toms of  the  rivers  ;  and  some  of  the  steep  hills  and  can- 
yon sides  are  clad  with  pines  or  stunted  cedars.  In  the 
early  spring,  when  the  young  blades  first  sprout,  the  land 
looks  green  and  bright ;  but  during  the  rest  of  the  year 
there  is  no  such  appearance  of  freshness,  for  the  short 
bunch  grass  is  almost  brown,  and  the  gray-green  sage  bush, 
bitter  and  withered-looking,  abounds  everywhere,  and 
gives  a  peculiarly  barren  aspect  to  the  landscape. 

It  is  but  little  over  half  a  dozen  years  since  these  lands 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.         3 

were  won  from  the  Indians.  They  were  their  only  remain- 
ing great  hunting-grounds,  and  towards  the  end  of  the 
last  decade  all  of  the  northern  plains  tribes  went  on  the 
war-path  in  a  final  desperate  effort  to  preserve  them. 
After  bloody  fighting  and  protracted  campaigns  they  were 
defeated,  and  the  country  thrown  open  to  the  whites, 
while  the  building  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  gave 
immigration  an  immense  impetus.  There  were  great 
quantities  of  game,  especially  buffalo,  and  the  hunters 
who  thronged  in  to  pursue  the  huge  herds  of  the  latter 
were  the  rough  forerunners  of  civilization.  No  longer 
dreading  the  Indians,  and  having  the  railway  on  which  to 
transport  the  robes,  they  followed  the  buffalo  in  season 
and  out,  until  in  1883  the  herds  were  practically  destroyed. 
But  meanwhile  the  cattle-men  formed  the  vanguard  of  the 
white  settlers.  Already  the  hardy  southern  stockmen  had 
pressed  up  with  their  wild-looking  herds  to  the  very  bor- 
der of  the  dangerous  land,  and  even  into  it,  trusting  to 
luck  and  their  own  prowess  for  their  safety  ;  and  the  in- 
stant the  danger  was  even  partially  removed,  their  cattle 
swarmed  northward  along  the  streams.  Some  Eastern 
men,  seeing  the  extent  of  the  grazing  country,  brought 
stock  out  by  the  railroad,  and  the  short-horned  beasts 
became  almost  as  plenty  as  the  wilder-looking  southern 
steers.  At  the  present  time,  indeed,  the  cattle  of  these 
northern  ranges  show  more  short-horn  than  long-horn 
blood. 

Cattle-raising  on  the  plains,  as  now  carried  on, 
started  in  Texas,  where  the  Americans  had  learned  it  from 
the  Mexicans  .whom  they  dispossessed.  It  has  only  be- 


4         Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

come  a  prominent  feature  of  Western  life  during  the  last 
score  of  years.  When  the  Civil  War  was  raging,  there 
were  hundreds  of  thousands  of  bony,  half  wild  steers  and 
cows  in  Texas,  whose  value  had  hitherto  been  very  slight ; 
but  toward  the  middle  of  the  struggle  they  became  a  most 
important  source  of  food  supply  to  both  armies,  and  when 
the  war  had  ended,  the  profits  of  the  business  were  widely 
known  and  many  men  had  gone  into  it.  At  first  the  stock- 
raising  was  all  done  in  Texas,  and  the  beef-steers,  when 
ready  for  sale,  were  annually  driven  north  along  what  be- 
came a  regular  cattle  trail.  Soon  the  men  of  Kansas  and 
Colorado  began  to  start  ranches,  and  Texans  who  were 
getting  crowded  out  moved  their  herds  north  into  these 
lands,  and  afterward  into  Wyoming.  Large  herds  of  year- 
ling steers  also  were,  and  still  are,  driven  from  the  breed- 
ing ranches  of  the  south  to  some  northern  range,  there  to 
be  fattened  for  three  years  before  selling.  The  cattle  trail 
led  through  great  wastes,  and  the  scores  of  armed  cow- 
boys who,  under  one  or  two  foremen,  accompanied  each 
herd,  had  often  to  do  battle  with  bands  of  hostile  Indians ; 
but  this  danger  is  now  a  thing  of  the  past,  as,  indeed,  will 
soon  be  the  case  with  the  cattle  trail  itself,  for  year  by 
year  the  grangers  press  steadily  westward  into  it,  and 
when  they  have  once  settled  in  a  place,  will  not  permit 
the  cattle  to  be  driven  across  it 

In  the  northern  country  the  ranches  vary  greatly  in 
size  ;  on  some  there  may  be  but  a  few  hundred  head,  on 
others  ten  times  as  many  thousand.  The  land  is  still  in 
great  part  unsurveyed,  and  is  hardly  anywhere  fenced  in, 
the  cattle  roaming  over  it  at  will.  The  small  ranches  are 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.          5 

often  quite  close  to  one  another,  say  within  a  couple  of 
miles ;  but  the  home  ranch  of  a  big  outfit  will  not  have 
another  building  within  ten  or  twenty  miles  of  it,  or,  in- 
deed, if  the  country  is  dry,  not  within  fifty.  The  ranch- 
house  may  be  only  a  mud  dugout,  or  a  "  shack  "  made  of 
logs  stuck  upright  into  the  ground  ;  more  often  it  is  a 
fair-sized,  well-made  building  of  hewn  logs,  divided  into 
several  rooms.  Around  it  are  grouped  the  other  buildings 
— log-stables,  cow-sheds,  and  hay-ricks,  an  out-house  in 
which  to  store  things,  and  on  large  ranches  another  house 
in  which  the  cowboys  sleep.  The  strongly  made,  circular 
horse-corral,  with  a  snubbing-post  in  the  middle,  stands 
close  by  ;  the  larger  cow-corral,  in  which  the  stock  is 
branded,  may  be  some  distance  off.  A  small  patch  of 
ground  is  usually  enclosed  as  a  vegetable  garden,  and  a 
very  large  one,  with  water  in  it,  as  a  pasture  to  be  used 
only  in  special  cases.  All  the  work  is  done  on  horseback, 
and  the  quantity  of  ponies  is  thus  of  necessity  very  great, 
some  of  the  large  outfits  numbering  them  by  hundreds  ;  on 
my  own  ranch  there  are  eighty.  Most  of  them  are  small, 
wiry  beasts,  not  very  speedy,  but  with  good  bottom,  and 
able  to  pick  up  a  living  under  the  most  adverse  circum- 
stances. There  are  usually  a  few  large,  fine  horses  kept 
for  the  special  use  of  the  ranchman  or  foremen.  The  best 
are  those  from  Oregon  ;  most  of  them  come  from  Texas, 
and  many  are  bought  from  the  Indians.  They  are  broken 
in  a  very  rough  manner,  and  many  are  in  consequence 
vicious  brutes,  with  the  detestable  habit  of  bucking.  Of 
this  habit  I  have  a  perfect  dread,  and,  if  I  can  help  it, 
never  get  on  a  confirmed  bucker.  The  horse  puts  his 


6         Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

head  down  between  his  forefeet,  arches  his  back,  and 
with  stiff  legs  gives  a  succession  of  jarring  jumps,  often 
"changing  ends"  as  he  does  so.  Even  if  a  man  can  keep 
his  seat,  the  performance  gives  him  about  as  uncomfort- 
able a  shaking  up  as  can  be  imagined. 

The  cattle  rove  free  over  the  hills  and  prairies,  pick- 
ing up  their  own  living  even  in  winter,  all  the  animals  of 
each  herd  having  certain  distinctive  brands  on  them.  But 
little  attempt  is  made  to  keep  them  within  definite 
bounds,  and  they  wander  whither  they  wish,  except  that 
the  ranchmen  generally  combine  to  keep  some  of  their 
cowboys  riding  lines  to  prevent  them  straying  away  alto- 
gether. The  missing  ones  are  generally  recovered  in  the 
annual  round-ups,  when  the  calves  are  branded.  These 
round-ups,  in  which  many  outfits  join  together,  and  which 
cover  hundreds  of  miles  of  territory,  are  the  busiest 
period  of  the  year  for  the  stockmen,  who  then,  with  their 
cowboys,  work  from  morning  till  night.  In  winter  little 
is  done  except  a  certain  amount  of  line  riding. 

The  cowboys  form  a  class  by  themselves,  and  are  now 
quite  as  typical  representatives  of  the  wilder  side  of  West- 
ern life,  as  were  a  few  years  ago  the  skin-clad  hunters  and 
trappers.  They  are  mostly  of  native  birth,  and  although 
there  are  among  them  wild  spirits  from  every  land,  yet 
the  latter  soon  become  undistinguishable  from  their 
American  companions,  for  these  plainsmen  are  far  from 
being  so  heterogeneous  a  people  as  is  commonly  sup- 
posed. On  the  contrary,  all  have  a  certain  curious  simi- 
larity to  each  other  ;  existence  in  the  west  seems  to  put  the 
same  stamp  upon  each  and  every  one  of  them.  Sinewy, 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.         7 

hardy,  self-reliant,  their  life  forces  them  to  be  both  daring 
and  adventurous,  and  the  passing  over  their  heads  of  a  few 
years  leaves  printed  on  their  faces  certain  lines  which  tell 
of  dangers  quietly  fronted  and  hardships  uncomplainingly 
endured.  They  are  far  from  being  as  lawless  as  they  are 
described  ;  though  they  sometimes  cut  queer  antics  when, 
after  many  months  of  lonely  life,  they  come  into  a  frontier 
town  in  which  drinking  and  gambling  are  the  only  recog- 
nized forms  of  amusement,  and  where  pleasure  and  vice 
are  considered  synonymous  terms.  On  the  round-ups,  or 
when  a  number  get  together,  there  is  much  boisterous, 
often  foul-mouthed  mirth  ;  but  they  are  rather  silent,  self- 
contained  men  when  with  strangers,  and  are  frank  and 
hospitable  to  a  degree.  The  Texans  are  perhaps  the  best 
at  the  actual  cowboy  work.  They  are  absolutely  fearless 
riders  and  understand  well  the  habits  of  the  half  wild 
cattle,  being  unequalled  in  those  most  trying  times 
when,  for  instance,  the  cattle  are  stampeded  by  a  thunder- 
storm at  night,  while  in  the  use  of  the  rope  they  are  only 
excelled  by  the  Mexicans.  On  the  other  hand,  they  are 
prone  to  drink,  and  when  drunk,  to  shoot.  Many  Kan- 
sans,  and  others  from  the  northern  States,  have  also  taken 
up  the  life  of  late  years,  and  though  these  scarcely  reach, 
in  point  of  skill  and  dash,  the  standard  of  the  southerners, 
who  may  be  said  to  be  born  in  the  saddle,  yet  they  are  to 
the  full  as  resolute  and  even  more  trustworthy.  My  own 
foremen  were  originally  eastern  backwoodsmen. 

The  cowboy's  dress  is  both  picturesque  and  serviceable, 
and,  like  many  of  the  terms  of  his  pursuit,  is  partly  of 
Hispano-Mexican  origin.  It  consists  of  a  broad  felt  hat,  a 


8         Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

flannel  shirt,  with  a  bright  silk  handkerchief  loosely  knot- 
ted round  the  neck,  trousers  tucked  into  high-heeled 
boots,  and  a  pair  of  leather  "shaps  "  (chaperajos)  or  heavy 
riding  overalls.  Great  spurs  and  a  large-calibre  revolver 
complete  the  costume.  For  horse  gear  there  is  a  cruel 
curb  bit,  and  a  very  strong,  heavy  saddle  with  high  pom- 
mel and  cantle.  This  saddle  seems  needlessly  weighty, 
but  the  work  is  so  rough  as  to  make  strength  the  first 
requisite.  A  small  pack  is  usually  carried  behind  it ;  also 
saddle  pockets,  or  small  saddle-bags  ;  and  there  are  leather 
strings  wherewith  to  fasten  the  loops  of  the  raw-hide 
lariat.  The  pommel  has  to  be  stout,  as  one  end  of  the 
lariat  is  twisted  round  it  when  work  is  to  be  done,  and 
the  strain  upon  it  is  tremendous  when  a  vigorous  steer 
has  been  roped,  or  when,  as  is  often  the  case,  a  wagon 
gets  stuck  and  the  team  has  to  be  helped  out  by  one  of 
the  riders  hauling  from  the  saddle.  A  ranchman  or  fore- 
man dresses  precisely  like  the  cowboys,  except  that  the 
materials  are  finer,  the  saddle  leather  being  handsomely 
carved,  the  spurs,  bit,  and  revolver  silver-mounted,  the 
shaps  of  seal-skin,  etc.  The  revolver  was  formerly  a 
necessity,  to  protect  the  owner  from  Indians  and  other 
human  foes  ;  this  is  still  the  case  in  a  few  places,  but,  as  a 
rule,  it  is  now  carried  merely  from  habit,  or  to  kill  rat- 
tlesnakes, or  on  the  chance  of  falling  in  with  a  wolf  or 
coyote,  while  not  unfrequently  it  is  used  to  add  game  to 
the  cowboy's  not  too  varied  bill  of  fare. 

A  cowboy  is  always  a  good  and  bold  rider,  but  his  seat 
in  the  saddle  is  not  at  all  like  that  of  one  of  our  eastern  or 
southern  fox-hunters.  The  stirrups  are  so  long  that  the 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.          9 

man  stands  almost  erect  in  them,  from  his  head  to  his  feet 
being  a  nearly  straight  line.  It  is  difficult  to  compare  the 
horsemanship  of  a  western  plainsman  with  that  of  an 
eastern  or  southern  cross-country  rider.  In  following 
hounds  over  fences  and  high  walls,  on  a  spirited  horse 
needing  very  careful  humoring,  the  latter  would  certainly 
excel ;  but  he  would  find  it  hard  work  to  sit  a  bucking 
horse  like  a  cowboy,  or  to  imitate  the  headlong  dash  with 
which  one  will  cut  out  a  cow  marked  with  his  own  brand 
from  a  herd  of  several  hundred  others,  or  will  follow 
at  full  speed  the  twistings  and  doublings  of  a  refractory 
steer  over  ground  where  an  eastern  horse  would  hardly 
keep  its  feet  walking. 

My  own  ranches,  the  Elkhorn  and  the  Chimney  Butte, 
lie  along  the  eastern  border  of  the  cattle  country,  where  the 
Little  Missouri  flows  through  the  heart  of  the  Bad  Lands. 
This,  like  most  other  plains  rivers,  has  a  broad,  shallow 
bed,  through  which  in  times  of  freshets  runs  a  muddy  tor- 
rent, that  neither  man  nor  beast  can  pass  ;  at  other  seasons 
of  the  year  it  is  very  shallow,  spreading  out  into  pools,  be- 
tween which  the  trickling  water  may  be  but  a  few  inches 
deep.  Even  then,  however,  it  is  not  always  easy  to  cross, 
for  the  bottom  is  filled  with  quicksands  and  mud-holes. 
The  river  flows  in  long  sigmoid  curves  through  an  alluvial 
valley  of  no  great  width.  The  amount  of  this  alluvial 
land  enclosed  by  a  single  bend  is  called  a  bottom,  which 
may  be  either  covered  with  cotton-wood  trees  or  else 
be  simply  a  great  grass  meadow.  From  the  edges  of  the 
valley  the  land  rises  abruptly  in  steep  high  buttes  whose 
crests  are  sharp  and  jagged.  This  broken  country  ex- 


io        Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

tends  back  from  the  river  for  many  miles,  and  has  been 
called  always,  by  Indians,  French  voyageurs,  and  Ameri- 
can trappers  alike,  the  "  Bad  Lands,"  partly  from  its 
dreary  and  forbidding  aspect  and  partly  from  the  difficulty 
experienced  in  travelling  through  it.  Every  few  miles  it 
is  crossed  by  creeks  which  open  into  the  Little  Missouri, 
of  which  they  are  simply  repetitions  in  miniature,  except 
that  during  most  of  the  year  they  are  almost  dry,  some  of 
them  having  in  their  beds  here  and  there  a  never-failing 
spring  or  muddy  alkaline-water  hole.  From  these  creeks 
run  coulies,  or  narrow,  winding  valleys,  through  which 
water  flows  when  the  snow  melts ;  their  bottoms  contain 
patches  of  brush,  and  they  lead  back  into  the  heart  of  the 
Bad  Lands.  Some  of  the  buttes  spread  out  into  level 
plateaus,  many  miles  in  extent ;  others  form  chains,  or  rise 
as  steep  isolated  masses.  Some  are  of  volcanic  origin, 
being  composed  of  masses  of  scoria  ;  the  others,  of  sand- 
stone or  clay,  are  worn  by  water  into  the  most  fantastic 
shapes.  In  coloring  they  are  as  bizarre  as  in  form. 
Among  the  level,  parallel  strata  which  make  up  the 
land  are  some  of  coal.  When  a  coal  vein  gets  on  fire 
it  makes  what  is  called  a  burning  mine,  and  the  clay  above 
it  is  turned  into  brick ;  so  that  where  water  wears 
away  the  side  of  a  hill  sharp  streaks  of  black  and  red 
are  seen  across  it,  mingled  with  the  grays,  purples,  and 
browns.  Some  of  the  buttes  are  overgrown  with 
gnarled,  stunted  cedars  or  small  pines,  and  they  are  all 
cleft  through  and  riven  in  every  direction  by  deep  narrow 
ravines,  or  by  canyons  with  perpendicular  sides. 

In  spite  of  their  look  of  savage  desolation,  the  Bad 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.         u 

Lands  make  a  good  cattle  country,  for  there  is  plenty  of 
nourishing  grass  and  excellent  shelter  from  the  winter 
storms.  The  cattle  keep  close  to  them  in  the  cold 
months,  while  in  the  summer  time  they  wander  out  on  the 
broad  prairies  stretching  back  of  them,  or  come  down  to 
the  river  bottoms. 

My  home  ranch-house  stands  on  the  river  brink. 
From  the  low,  long  veranda,  shaded  by  leafy  cotton- 
woods,  one  looks  across  sand  bars  and  shallows  to  a  strip 
of  meadowland,  behind  which  rises  a  line  of  sheer  cliffs 
and  grassy  plateaus.  This  veranda  is  a  pleasant  place 
in  the  summer  evenings  when  a  cool  breeze  stirs  along 
the  river  and  blows  in  the  faces  of  the  tired  men,  who  loll 
back  in  their  rocking-chairs  (what  true  American  does  not 
enjoy  a  rocking-chair?),  book  in  hand — though  they  do 
not  often  read  the  books,  but  rock  gently  to  and  fro, 
gazing  sleepily  out  at  the  weird-looking  buttes  opposite, 
until  their  sharp  outlines  grow  indistinct  and  purple  in  the 
after-glow  of  the  sunset.  The  story-high  house  of  hewn 
logs  is  clean  and  neat,  with  many  rooms,  so  that  one  can 
be  alone  if  one  wishes  to.  The  nights  in  summer  are  cool 
and  pleasant,  and  there  are  plenty  of  bear-skins  and  buffalo 
robes,  trophies  of  our  own  skill,  with  which  to  bid  defiance 
to  the  bitter  cold  of  winter.  In  summer  time  we  are  not 
much  within  doors,  for  we  rise  before  dawn  and  work 
hard  enough  to  be  willing  to  go  to  bed  soon  after  night- 
fall. The  long  winter  evenings  are  spent  sitting  round 
the  hearthstone,  while  the  pine  logs  roar  and  crackle,  and 
the  men  play  checkers  or  chess,  in  the  fire  light.  The 
rifles  stand  in  the  corners  of  the  room  or  rest  across  the 


12        Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

elk  antlers  which  jut  out  from  over  the  fireplace.  From 
the  deer  horns  ranged  along  the  walls  and  thrust  into  the 
beams  and1  rafters  hang  heavy  overcoats  of  wolf-skin  or 
coon-skin,  and  otter-fur  or  beaver-fur  caps  and  gauntlets. 
Rough  board  shelves  hold  a  number  of  books,  without 
which  some  of  the  evenings  would  be  long  indeed.  No 
ranchman  who  loves  sport  can  afford  to  be  without  Van 
Dyke's  "Still  Hunter,"  Dodge's  "Plains  of  the  Great  West," 
or  Caton's  "  Deer  and  Antelope  of  America"  ;  and  Coues' 
"  Birds  of  the  Northwest"  will  be  valued  if  he  cares  at  all 
for  natural  history.  A  western  plainsman  is  reminded  every 
day,  by  the  names  of  the  prominent  landmarks  among 
which  he  rides,  that  the  country  was  known  to  men  who 
spoke  French  long  before  any  of  his  own  kinsfolk  came 
to  it,  and  hence  he  reads  with  a  double  interest  Parkman's 
histories  of  the  early  Canadians.  As  for  Irving,  Haw- 
thorne, Cooper,  Lowell,  and  the  other  standbys,  I  sup- 
pose no  man,  east  or  west,  would  willingly  be  long  with- 
out them ;  while  for  lighter  reading  there  are  dreamy 
Ike  Marvel,  Burroughs'  breezy  pages,  and  the  quaint, 
pathetic  character-sketches  of  the  Southern  writers — Cable, 
Cradock,  Macon,  Joel  Chandler  Harris,  and  sweet  Sher- 
wood Bonner.  And  when  one  is  in  the  Bad  Lands  he  feels 
as  if  they  somehow  look  just  exactly  as  Poe's  tales  and 
poems  sound. 

By  the  way,  my  books  have  some  rather  unexpected 
foes,  in  the  shape  of  the  pack  rats.  These  are  larger  than  our 
house  rats,  with  soft  gray  fur,  big  eyes,  and  bushy  tails,  like 
a  squirrel's  ;  they  are  rather  pretty  beasts  and  very  tame, 
often  coming  into  the  shacks  and  log-cabins  of  the  settlers. 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.         *3 

Woodmen  and  plainsmen,  in  their  limited  vocabulary,  make 
great  use  of  the  verb  "  pack,"  which  means  to  carry,  more 
properly  to  carry  on  one's  back  ;  and  these'  rats  were 
christened  pack  rats,  on  account  of  their  curious  and  in- 
veterate habit  of  dragging  off  to  their  holes  every  object 
they  can  possibly  move.  From  the  hole  of  one,  under- 
neath the  wall  of  a  hut,  I  saw  taken  a  small  revolver,  a 
hunting-knife,  two  books,  a  fork,  a  small  bag,  and  a  tin 
cup.  The  little  shack  mice  are  much  more  common  than 
the  rats,  and  among  them  there  is  a  wee  pocket-mouse, 
with  pouches  on  the  outside  of  its  little  cheeks. 

In  the  spring,  when  the  thickets  are  green,  the  hermit 
thrushes  sing  sweetly  in  them  ;  when  it  is  moonlight,  the 
voluble,  cheery  notes  of  the  thrashers  or  brown  thrushes 
can  be  heard  all  night  long.  One  of  our  sweetest,  loudest 
songsters  is  the  meadow-lark  ;  this  I  could  hardly  get  used 
to  at  first,  for  it  looks  exactly  like  the  eastern  meadow- 
lark,  which  utters  nothing  but  a  harsh,  disagreeable  chat- 
ter. But  the  plains  air  seems  to  give  it  a  voice,  and  it  will 
perch  on  the  top  of  a  bush  or  tree  and  sing  for  hours  in 
rich,  bubbling  tones.  Out  on  the  prairie  there  are  several 
kinds  of  plains  sparrows  which  sing  very  brightly,  one  of 
them  hovering  in  the  air  all  the  time,  like  a  bobolink. 
Sometimes  in  the  early  morning,  when  crossing  the  open, 
grassy  plateaus,  I  have  heard  the  prince  of  them  all,  the 
Missouri  skylark.  The  skylark  sings  on  the  wing,  soaring 
over  head  and  mounting  in  spiral  curves  until  it  can  hardly 
be  seen,  while  its  bright,  tender  strains  never  cease  for  a 
moment.  I  have  sat  on  my  horse  and  listened  to  one  sing- 
ing for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  at  a  time  without  stopping. 


1 4        Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

There  is  another  bird  also  which  sings  on  the  wing,  though 
I  have  not  seen  the  habit  put  down  in  the  books.  One 
bleak  March  day,  when  snow  covered  the  ground  and  the 
shaggy  ponies  crowded  about  the  empty  corral,  a  flock 
of  snow-buntings  came  familiarly  round  the  cow-shed, 
clambering  over  the  ridge-pole  and  roof.  Every  few  mo- 
ments one  of  them  would  mount  into  the  air,  hovering 
about  with  quivering  wings  and  warbling  a  loud,  merry 
song  with  some  very  sweet  notes.  They  were  a  most 
welcome  little  group  of  guests,  and  we  were  sorry  when, 
after  loitering  around  a  day  or  two,  they  disappeared  toward 
their  breeding  haunts. 

In  the  still  fall  nights,  if  we  lie  awake  we  can  listen  to 
the  clanging  cries  of  the  water-fowl,  as  their  flocks  speed 
southward ;  and  in  cold  weather  the  coyotes  occasionally 
come  near  enough  for  us  to  hear  their  uncanny  wailing. 
The  larger  wolves,  too,  now  and  then  join  in,  with  a  kind 
of  deep,  dismal  howling  ;  but  this  melancholy  sound  is 
more  often  heard  when  out  camping  than  from  the  ranch- 
house. 

The  charm  of  ranch  life  comes  in  its  freedom,  and  the 
vigorous,  open-air  existence  it  forces  a  man  to  lead.  Ex- 
cept when  hunting  in  bad  ground,  the  whole  time  away 
from  the  house  is  spent  in  the  saddle,  and  there  are  so 
many  ponies  that  a  fresh  one  can  always  be  had.  These 
ponies  are  of  every  size  and  disposition,  and  rejoice  in 
names  as  different  as  their  looks.  Hackamore,  Wire  Fence, 
Steel-Trap,  War  Cloud,  Pinto,  Buckskin,  Circus,  and 
Standing  Jimmie  are  among  those  that,  as  I  write,  are 
running  frantically  round  the  corral  in  the  vain  effort  to 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.         15 

avoid  the  rope,  wielded  by  the  dextrous  and  sinewy  hand 
of  a  broad-hatted  cowboy. 

A  ranchman  is  kept  busy  most  of  the  time,  but 
his  hardest  work  comes  during  the  spring  and  fall 
round-ups,  when  the  calves  are  branded  or  the  beeves 
gathered  for  market.  Our  round-up  district  includes  the 
Beaver  and  Little  Beaver  creeks  (both  of  which  always 
contain  running  water,  and  head  up  toward  each  other), 
and  as  much  of  the  river,  nearly  two  hundred  miles  in  ex- 
tent, as  lies  between  their  mouths.  All  the  ranches  along 
the  line  of  these  two  creeks  and  the  river  space  between 
join  in  sending  from  one  to  three  or  four  men  to  the  round- 
up, each  man  taking  eight  ponies  ;  and  for  every  six  or  seven 
men  there  will  be  a  four-horse  wagon  to  carry  the  blankets 
and  mess  kit.  The  whole,  including  perhaps  forty  or  fifty 
cowboys,  is  under  the  head  of  one  first-class  foreman, 
styled  the  captain  of  the  round-up.  Beginning  at  one  end 
of  the  line  the  round-up  works  along  clear  to  the  other. 
Starting  at  the  head  of  one  creek,  the  wagons  and  the 
herd  of  spare  ponies  go  down  it  ten  or  twelve  miles,  while 
the  cowboys,  divided  into  small  parties,  scour  the  neigh- 
boring country,  covering  a  great  extent  of  territory,  and 
in  the  evening  come  into  the  appointed  place  with  all 
the  cattle  they  have  seen.  This  big  herd,  together  with 
the  pony  herd,  is  guarded  and  watched  all  night,  and 
driven  during  the  day.  At  each  home-ranch  (where 
-there  is  always  a  large  corral  fitted  for  the  purpose)  all 
the  cattle  pf  that  brand  are  cut  out  from  the  rest  of  the 
herd,  which  is  to  continue  its  journey,  and  the  cows  and 
calves  are  driven  into  the  corral,  where  the  latter  are 


1 6        Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

roped,  thrown,  and  branded.  In  throwing  the  rope  from 
horseback,  the  loop,  held  in  the  right  hand,  is  swung 
round  and  round  the  head  by  a  motion  of  the  wrist ;  when 
on  foot,  the  hand  is  usually  held  by  the  side,  the  loop 
dragging  on  the  ground.  It  is  a  pretty  sight  to  see  a  man 
who  knows  how,  use  the  rope ;  again  and  again  an  expert 
will  catch  fifty  animals  by  the  leg  without  making  a  mis- 
throw.  But  unless  practice  is  begun  very  young  it  is  hard 
to  become  really  proficient. 

Cutting  out  cattle,  next  to  managing  a  stampeded  herd 
at  night,  is  that  part  of  the  cowboy's  work  needing  the 
boldest  and  most  skilful  horsemanship.  A  young  heifer 
or  steer  is  very  loath  to  leave  the  herd,  always  tries  to 
break  back  into  it,  can  run  like  a  deer,  and  can  dodge  like 
a  rabbit ;  but  a  thorough  cattle  pony  enjoys  the  work  as 
much  as  its  rider,  and  follows  a  beast  like  a  four-footed 
fate  through  every  double  and  turn.  The  ponies  for  the 
cutting-out  or  afternoon  work  are  small  and  quick  ;  those 
used  for  the  circle-riding  in  the  morning  have  need  rather 
to  be  strong  and  rangey. 

The  work  on  a  round-up  is  very  hard,  but  although 
the  busiest  it  is  also  the  pleasantest  part  of  a  cowboy's 
existence.  His  food  is  good,  though  coarse,  and  his  sleep 
is  sound  indeed  ;  while  the  work  is  very  exciting,  and  is 
done  in  company,  under  the  stress  of  an  intense  rivalry 
between  all  the  men,  both  as  to  their  own  skill,  and  as  to 
the  speed  and  training  of  their  horses.  Clumsiness,  and 
still  more  the  slightest  approach  to  timidity,  expose  a  man 
to  the  roughest  and  most  merciless  raillery  ;  and  the  unfit 
are  weeded  out  by  a  very  rapid  process  of  natural  selec- 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.         17 

tion.  When  the  work  is  over  for  the  day  the  men  gather 
round  the  fire  for  an  hour  or  two  to  sing  songs,  talk, 
smoke,  and  tell  stones  ;  and  he  who  has  a  good  voice,  or, 
better  still,  can  play  a  fiddle  or  banjo,  is  sure  to  receive 
his  meed  of  most  sincere  homage. 

Though  the  ranchman  is  busiest  during  the  round-up, 
yet  he  is  far  from  idle  at  other  times.  He  rides  round 
among  the  cattle  to  see  if  any  are  sick,  visits  any  outlying 
camp  of  his  men,  hunts  up  any  band  of  ponies  which  may 
stray — and  they  are  always  straying, — superintends  the 
haying,  and,  in  fact,  does  not  often  find  that  he  has  too 
much  leisure  time  on  his  hands.  Even  in  winter  he  has 
work  which  must  be  done.  His  ranch  supplies  milk, 
butter,  eggs,  and  potatoes,  and  his  rifle  keeps  him,  at  least 
intermittently,  in  fresh  meat ;  but  coffee,  sugar,  flour,  and 
whatever  else  he  may  want,  has  to  be  hauled  in,  and  this 
is  generally  done  when  the  ice  will  bear.  Then  firewood 
must  be  chopped  ;  or,  if  there  is  a  good  coal  vein,  as  on 
my  ranch,  the  coal  must  be  dug  out  and  hauled  in. 
Altogether,  though  the  ranchman  will  have  time  enough 
to  take  shooting  trips,  he  will  be  very  far  from  having 
time  to  make  shooting  a  business,  as  a  stranger  who  comes 
for  nothing  else  can  afford  to  do. 

There  are  now  no  Indians  left  in  my  immediate  neigh- 
borhood, though  a  small  party  of  harmless  Grosventres 
occasionally  passes  through  ;  yet  it  is  but  six  years  since 
the  Sioux  surprised  and  killed  five  men  in  a  log  station 
just  south  of  me,  where  the  Fort  Keogh  trail  crosses  the 
river  ;  and,  two  years  ago,  when  I  went  down  on  the 
prairies  toward  the  Black  Hills,  there  was  still  danger 


1 8        Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

from  Indians.  That  summer  the  buffalo  hunters  had  killed 
a  couple  of  Crows,  and  while  we  were  on  the  prairie  a 
long-range  skirmish  occurred  near  us  between  some 
Cheyennes  and  a  number  of  cowboys.  In  fact,  we  our- 
selves were  one  day  scared  by  what  we  thought  to  be  a 
party  of  Sioux  ;  but  on  riding  toward  them  they  proved 
to  be  half-breed  Crees,  who  were  more  afraid  of  us  than 
we  were  of  them. 

During  the  past  century  a  good  deal  of  sentimental 
nonsense  has  been  talked  about  our  taking  the  Indians' 
land.  Now,  I  do  not  mean  to  say  for  a  moment  that 
gross  wrong  has  not  been  done  the  Indians,  both  by 
government  and  individuals,  again  and  again.  The  govern- 
ment makes  promises  impossible  to  perform,  and  then  fails 
to  do  even  what  it  might  toward  their  fulfilment ;  and 
where  brutal  and  reckless  frontiersmen  are  brought  into 
contact  with  a  set  of  treacherous,  revengeful,  and  fiendishly 
cruel  savages  a  long  series  of  outrages  by  both  sides  is 
sure  to  follow.  But  as  regards  taking  the  land,  at  least 
from  the  western  Indians,  the  simple  truth  is  that  the  latter 
never  had  any  real  ownership  in  it  at  all.  Where  the 
game  was  plenty,  there  they  hunted ;  they  followed  it 
when  it  moved  away  to  new  hunting-grounds,  unless  they 
were  prevented  by  stronger  rivals ;  and  to  most  of  the  land 
on  which  we  found  them  they  had  no  stronger  claim  than 
that  of  having  a  few  years  previously  butchered  the  origi- 
nal occupants.  When  my  cattle  came  to  the  Little  Mis- 
souri the  region  was  only  inhabited  by  a  score  or  so  of 
white  hunters ;  their  title  to  it  was  quite  as  good  as  that  of 
most  Indian  tribes  to  the  lands  they  claim;  yet  nobody 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.         19 

dreamed  of  saying  that  these  hunters  owned  the  country. 
Each  could  eventually  have  kept  his  own  claim  of  160 
acres,  and  no  more.  The  Indians  should  be  treated  in 
just  the  same  way  that  we  treat  the  white  settlers.  Give 
each  his  little  claim;  if,  as  would  generally  happen,  he 
declined  this,  why  then  let  him  share  the  fate  of  the 
thousands  of  white  hunters  and  trappers  who  have  lived 
on  the  game  that  the  settlement  of  the  country  has  ex- 
terminated, arid  let  him,  like  these  whites,  who  will  not 
work,  perish  from  the  face  of  the  earth  which  he  cumbers. 

The  doctrine  seems  merciless,  and  so  it  is  ;  but  it  is  just 
and  rational  for  all  that.  It  does  not  do  to  be  merciful  to 
a  few,  at  the  cost  of  justice  to  the  many.  The  cattle-men 
at  least  keep  herds  and  build  houses  on  the  land ;  yet  I 
would  not  for  a  moment  debar  settlers  from  the  right  of 
entry  to  the  cattle  country,  though  their  coming  in  means 
in  the  end  the  destruction  of  us  and  our  industry. 

For  we  ourselves,  and  the  life  that  we  lead,  will  shortly 
pass  away  from  the  plains  as  completely  as  the  red  and 
white  hunters  who  have  vanished  from  before  our  herds. 
The  free,  open-air  life  of  the  ranchman,  the  pleasantest  and 
healthiest  life  in  America,  is  from  its  very  nature  ephemeral. 
The  broad  and  boundless  prairies  have  already  been 
bounded  and  will  soon  be  made  narrow.  It  is  scarcely  a 
figure  of  speech  to  say  that  the  tide  of  white  settlement 
during  the  last  few  years  has  risen  over  the  west  like  a 
flood ;  and  the  cattle-men  are  but  the  spray  from  the  crest 
of  the  wave,  thrown  far  in  advance,  but  soon  to  be  over- 
taken. As  the  settlers  throng  into  the  lands  and  seize  the 
good  ground,  especially  that  near  the  streams,  the  great 


20        Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

fenceless  ranches,  where  the  cattle  and  their  mounted 
herdsmen  wandered  unchecked  over  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  acres,  will  be  broken  up  and  divided  into  corn  land, 
or  else  into  small  grazing  farms  where  a  few  hundred 
head  of  stock  are  closely  watched  and  taken  care  of.  Of 
course  the  most  powerful  ranches,  owned  by  wealthy 
corporations  or  individuals,  and  already  firmly  rooted  in 
the  soil,  will  long  resist  this  crowding;  in  places,  where 
the  ground  is  not  suited  to  agriculture,  or  where,  through 
the  old  Spanish  land-grants,  title  has  been  acquired  to  a 
great  tract  of  territory,  cattle  ranching  will  continue  for  a 
long  time,  though  in  a  greatly  modified  form  ;  elsewhere  I 
doubt  if  it  outlasts  the  present  century.  Immense  sums  of 
money  have  been  made  at  it  in  the  past,  and  it  is  still 
fairly  profitable ;  but  the  good  grounds  (aside  from  those 
reserved  for  the  Indians)  are  now  almost  all  taken  up,  and 
it  is  too  late  for  new  men  to  start  at  it  on  their  own 
account,  unless  in  exceptional  cases,  or  where  an  Indian 
reservation  is  thrown  open.  Those  that  are  now  in  will 
continue  to  make  money ;  but  most  of  those  who  hereafter 
take  it  up  will  lose. 

The  profits  of  the  business  are  great ;  but  the  chances 
for  loss  are  great  also.  A  winter  of  unusual  severity  will 
work  sad  havoc  among  the  young  cattle,  especially  the 
heifers  ;  sometimes  a  disease  like  the  Texas  cattle  fever 
will  take  off  a  whole  herd  ;  and  many  animals  stray  and 
are  not  recovered.  In  fall,  when  the  grass  is  like  a 
mass  of  dry  and  brittle  tinder,  the  fires  do  much  damage, 
reducing  the  prairies  to  blackened  deserts  as  far  as  the  eye 
can  see,  and  destroying  feed  which  would  keep  many 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.        21 

thousand  head  of  stock  during  winter.  Then  we  hold  in 
about  equal  abhorrence  the  granger  who  may  come  in  to 
till  the  land,  and  the  sheep-owner  who  drives  his  flocks 
over  it.  The  former  will  gradually  fill  up  the  country  to 
our  own  exclusion,  while  the  latter's  sheep  nibble  the  grass 
off  so  close  to  the  ground  as  to  starve  out  all  other 
animals. 

Then  we  suffer  some  loss — in  certain  regions  very 
severe  loss — from  wild  beasts,  such  as  cougars,  wolves, 
and  lynxes.  The  latter,  generally  called  "  bob-cats," 
merely  make  inroads  on  the  hen-roosts  (one  of  them 
destroyed  half  my  poultry,  coming  night  after  night  with 
most  praiseworthy  regularity),  but  the  cougars  and  wolves 
destroy  many  cattle. 

The  wolf  is  not  very  common  with  us  ;  nothing  like 
as  plentiful  as  the  little  coyote.  A  few  years  ago  both 
wolves  and  coyotes  were  very  numerous  on  the  plains,  and 
as  Indians  and  hunters  rarely  molested  them,  they  were 
then  very  unsuspicious.  But  all  this  is  changed  now. 
When  the  cattle-men  came  in  they  soon  perceived  in  the 
wolves  their  natural  foes,  and  followed  them  unrelent- 
ingly. They  shot  at  and  chased  them  on  all  occasions, 
and  killed  great  numbers  by  poisoning  ;  and  as  a  conse- 
quence the  comparatively  few  that  are  left  are  as  wary  and 
cunning  beasts  as  exist  anywhere.  They  hardly  ever 
stir  abroad  by  day,  and  hence  are  rarely  shot  or  indeed 
seen.  During  the  last  three  years  these  brutes  have  killed 
nearly  a  score  of  my  cattle,  and  in  return  we  have  poi- 
soned six  or  eight  wolves  and  a  couple  of  dozen  coyotes ; 
yet  in  all  our  riding  we  have  not  seen  so  much  as  a  single 


22         Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

wolf,  and  only  rarely  a  coyote.  The  coyotes  kill  sheep 
and  occasionally  very  young  calves,  but  never  meddle  with 
any  thing  larger.  The  stockman  fears  only  the  large 
wolves. 

According  to  my  experience,  the  wolf  is  rather  soli- 
tary. A  single  one  or  a  pair  will  be  found  by  themselves, 
or  possibly  with  one  or  more  well-grown  young  ones,  and 
will  then  hunt  over  a  large  tract  where  no  other  wolves 
will  be  found  ;  and  as  they  wander  very  far,  and  as  their 
melancholy  howlings  have  a  most  ventriloquial  effect,  they 
are  often  thought  to  be  much  more  plentiful  than  they 
are.  During  the  daytime  they  lie  hid  in  caves  or  in  some 
patch  of  bush,  and  will  let  a  man  pass  right  by  them 
without  betraying  their  presence.  Occasionally  some- 
body runs  across  them  by  accident.  A  neighboring  ranch- 
man to  me  once  stumbled,  while  riding  an  unshod  pony, 
right  into  the  midst  of  four  wolves  who  were  lying  in 
some  tall,  rank  grass,  and  shot  one  with  his  revolver  and 
crippled  another  before  they  could  get  away.  But  such 
an  accident  as  this  is  very  rare  ;  and  when,  by  any  chance, 
the  wolf  is  himself  abroad  in  the  daytime  he  keeps  such 
a  sharp  look-out,  and  is  so  wary,  that  it  is  almost  impos- 
sible to  get  near  him,  and  he  gives  every  human  being  a 
wide  berth.  At  night  it  is  different.  The  wolves  then 
wander  far  and  wide,  often  coming  up  round  the  out- 
buildings of  the  ranches ;  I  have  seen  in  light  Snow  the 
tracks  of  two  that  had  walked  round  the  house  within 
fifty  feet  of  it.  I  have  never  heard  of  an  instance  where 
a  man  was  attacked  or  threatened  by  them,  but  they  will 
at  times  kill  every  kind  of  domestic  animal.  They  are 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.         23 

fond  of  trying  to  catch  young  foals,  but  do  not  often  suc- 
ceed, for  the  mares  and  foals  keep  together  in  a  kind  of 
straggling  band,  and  the  foal  is  early  able  to  run  at  good 
speed  for  a  short  distance.  When  attacked,  the  mare  and 
foal  dash  off  towards  the  rest  of  the  band,  which  gathers 
together  at  once,  the  foals  pressing  into  the  middle  and 
the  mares  remaining  on  the  outside,  not  in  a  ring  with 
their  heels  out,  but  moving  in  and  out,  and  forming  a  solid 
mass  into  which  the  wolves  do  not  venture.  Full-grown 
horses  are  rarely  molested,  while  a  stallion  becomes  him- 
self the  assailant. 

In  early  spring  when  the  cows  begin  to  calve  the 
wolves  sometimes  wait  upon  the  herds  as  they  did  of  old 
on  the  buffalo,  and  snap  up  any  calf  that  strays  away  from 
its  mother.  When  hard  pressed  by  hunger  they  will  kill 
a  steer  or  a  heifer,  choosing  the  bitterest  and  coldest 
night  to  make  the  attack.  The  prey  is  invariably  seized 
by  the  haunch  or  flank,  and  its  entrails  afterwards  torn 
out ;  while  a  cougar,  on  the  contrary,  grasps  the  neck  or 
throat.  Wolves  have  very  strong  teeth  and  jaws  and 
inflict  a  most  severe  bite.  They  will  in  winter  come  up 
to  the  yards  and  carry  away  a  sheep,  pig,  or  dog  without 
much  difficulty ;  I  have  known  one  which  had  tried  to 
seize  a  sheep  and  been  prevented  by  the  sheep  dogs  to 
canter  off  with  one  of  the  latter  instead.  But  a  spirited 
dog  will  always  attack  a  wolf.  On  the  ranch  next  below 
mine  there  was  a  plucky  bull  terrier,  weighing  about 
twenty-five  pounds,  who  lost  his  life  owing  to  his  bravery. 
On  one  moonlight  night  three  wolves  came  round  the 
stable,  and  the  terrier  sallied  out  promptly.  He  made 


24        Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

such  a  quick  rush  as  to  take  his  opponents  by  surprise,  and 
seized  one  by  the  throat ;  nor  did  he  let  go  till  the  other 
two  tore  him  almost  asunder  across  the  loins.  Better  luck 
attended  a  large  mongrel  called  a  sheep  dog  by  his  master, 
but  whose  blood  was  apparently  about  equally  derived 
from  collie,  Newfoundland,  and  bulldog.  He  was  a  sullen, 
but  very  intelligent  and  determined  brute,  powerfully  built 
and  with  strong  jaws,  and  though  neither  as  tall  nor  as 
heavy  as  a  wolf  he  had  yet  killed  two  of  these  animals 
single-handed.  One  of  them  had  come  into  the  farm-yard 
at  night,  and  had  taken  a  young  pig,  whose  squeals  roused 
everybody.  The  wolf  loped  off  with  his  booty,  the  dog 
running  after  and  overtaking  him  in  the  darkness.  The 
struggle  was  short,  for  the  dog  had  seized  the  wolf  by  the 
throat  and  the  latter  could  not  shake  him  off,  though  he 
made  the  most  desperate  efforts,  rising  on  his  hind  legs  and 
pressing  the  dog  down  with  his  fore  paws.  This  time  the 
victor  escaped  scatheless,  but  in  his  second  fight,  when  he 
strangled  a  still  larger  wolf,  he  was  severely  punished. 
The  wolf  had  seized  a  sheep,  when  the  dog,  rushing  on 
him,  caused  him  to  leave  his  quarry.  Instead  of  running 
he  turned  to  bay  at  once,  taking  off  one  of  the  assailant's 
ears  with  a  rapid  snap.  The  dog  did  not  get  a  good  hold, 
and  the  wolf  scored  him  across  the  shoulders  and  flung 
him  off.  They  then  faced  each  other  for  a  minute  and  at 
the  next  dash  the  dog  made  good  his  throat  hold,  and 
throttled  the  wolf,  though  the  latter  contrived  to  get 
his  foe's  foreleg  into  his  jaws  and  broke  it  clear  through. 
When  I  saw  the  dog  he  had  completely  recovered, 
although  pretty  well  scarred. 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.        25 

On  another  neighboring  ranch  there  is  a  most  ill- 
favored  hybrid,  whose  mother  was  a  Newfoundland  and 
whose  father  was  a  large  wolf.  It  is  stoutly  built,  with 
erect  ears,  pointed  muzzle,  rather  short  head,  short  bushy 
tail,  and  of  a  brindled  color ;  funnily  enough  it  looks  more 
like  a  hyena  than  like  either  of  its  parents.  It  is  familiar 
with  people  and  a  good  cattle  dog,  but  rather  treach- 
erous ;  it  both  barks  and  howls.  The  parent  wolf  carried 
on  a  long  courtship  with  the  Newfoundland.  He  came 
round  the  ranch,  regularly  and  boldly,  every  night,  and 
she  would  at  once  go  out  to  him.  In  the  daylight  he 
would  lie  hid  in  the  bushes  at  some  little  distance.  Once 
or  twice  his  hiding-place  was  discovered  and  then  the  men 
would  amuse  themselves  by  setting  the  Newfoundland 
on  him.  She  would  make  at  him  with  great  apparent 
ferocity ;  but  when  they  were  a  good  way  from  the 
men  he  would  turn  round  and  wait  for  her  and  they 
would  go  romping  off  together,  not  to  be  seen  again  for 
several  hours. 

The  cougar  is  hardly  ever  seen  round  my  ranch  ;  but 
toward  the  mountains  it  is  very  destructive  both  to 
horses  and  horned  cattle.  The  ranchmen  know  it  by 
the  name  of  mountain  lion ;  and  it  is  the  same  beast 
that  in  the  east  is  called  panther  or  "  painter."  The 
cougar  is  the  same  size  and  build  as  the  Old  World 
leopard,  and  with  very  much  the  same  habits.  One  will 
generally  lie  in  wait  for  the  heifers  or  young  steers  as 
they  come  down  to  water,  and  singling  out  an  animal, 
reach  it  in  a  couple  of  bounds  and  fasten  its  fangs  in 
the  throat  or  neck.  I  have  seen  quite  a  large  cow  that 


26        Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

had  been  killed  by  a  cougar;  and  on  another  occasion, 
while  out  hunting  over  light  snow,  I  came  across  a  place 
where  two  bucks,  while  fighting,  had  been  stalked  up 
to  by  a  cougar  which  pulled  down  one  and  tore  him  in 
pieces.  The  cougar's  gait  is  silent  and  stealthy  to  an 
extraordinary  degree  ;  the  look  of  the  animal  when  creep- 
ing up  to  his  prey  has  been  wonderfully  caught  by  the 
sculptor,  Kemeys,  in  his  bronzes :  "  The  Still  Hunt  "  and 
"The  Silent  Footfall." 

I  have  never  myself  killed  a  cougar,  though  my 
brother  shot  one  in  Texas,  while  still-hunting  some  deer, 
which  the  cougar  itself  was  after.  It  never  attacks 
man,  and  even  when  hard  pressed  and  wounded  turns 
to  bay  with  extreme  reluctance,  and  at  the  first  chance 
again  seeks  safety  in  flight.  This  was  certainly  not  the 
case  in  old  times,  but  the  nature  of  the  animal  has  been  so 
changed  by  constant  contact  with  rifle-bearing  hunters, 
that  timidity  toward  them  has  become  a  hereditary  trait 
deeply  engrained  in  its  nature.  When  the  continent  was 
first  settled,  and  for  long  afterward,  the  cougar  was  quite 
as  dangerous  an  antagonist  as  the  African  or  Indian 
leopard,  and  would  even  attack  men  unprovoked.  An 
instance  of  this  occurred  in  the  annals  of  my  mother's 
family.  Early  in  the  present  century  one  of  my  ancestral 
relatives,  a  Georgian,  moved  down  to  the  wild  and  almost 
unknown  country  bordering  on  Florida.  His  plantation 
was  surrounded  by  jungles  in  which  all  kinds  of  wild 
beasts  swarmed.  One  of  his  negroes  had  a  sweetheart  on 
another  plantation,  and  in  visiting  her,  instead  of  going  by 
the  road  he  took  a  short  cut  through  the  swamps,  heed- 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.         27 

less  of  the  wild  beasts,  and  armed  only  with  a  long  knife — 
for  he  was  a  man  of  colossal  strength,  and  of  fierce  and 
determined  temper.  One  night  he  started  to  return  late, 
expecting  to  reach  the  plantation  in  time  for  his  daily 
task  on  the  morrow.  But  he  never  reached  home,  and  it 
was  thought  he  had  run  away.  However,  when  search 
was  made  for  him  his  body  was  found  in  the  path  through 
the  swamp,  all  gashed  and  torn,  and  but  a  few  steps  from 
him  the  body  of  a  cougar,  stabbed  and  cut  in  many 
places.  Certainly  that  must  have  been  a  grim  fight,  in 
the  gloomy,  lonely  recesses  of  the  swamp,  with  no  one  to 
watch  the  midnight  death  struggle  between  the  powerful, 
naked  man  and  the  ferocious  brute  that  was  his  almost 
unseen  assailant. 

When  hungry,  a  cougar  will  attack  any  thing  it  can 
master.  I  have  known  of  their  killing  wolves  and  large 
dogs.  A  friend  of  mine,  a  ranchman  in  Wyoming,  had 
two  grizzly  bear  cubs  in  his  possession  at  one  time,  and 
they  were  kept  in  a  pen  outside  the  ranch.  One  night 
two  cougars  came  down,  and  after  vain  efforts  to  catch 
a  dog  which  was  on  the  place,  leaped  into  the  pen  and 
carried  off  the  two  young  bears ! 

Two  or  three  powerful  dogs,  however,  will  give  a 
cougar  all  he  wants  to  do  to  defend  himself.  A  relative 
of  mine  in  one  of  the  Southern  States  had  a  small  pack  of 
five  blood-hounds,  with  which  he  used  to  hunt  the  cane- 
brakes  for  bear,  wildcats,  etc.  On  one  occasion  they  ran 
across  a  cougar,  and  after  a  sharp  chase  treed  him.  As 
the  hunters  drew  near  he  leaped  from  the  tree  and  made 
off,  but  was  overtaken  by  the  hounds  and  torn  to  pieces 


28        Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

after  a  sharp  struggle  in  which  one  or  two  of  the  pack 
were  badly  scratched. 

Cougars  are  occasionally  killed  by  poisoning,  and  they 
may  be  trapped  much  more  easily  than  a  wolf.  I  have 
never  known  them  to  be  systematically  hunted  in  the 
West,  though  now  and  then  one  is  accidentally  run  across 
and  killed  with  the  rifle  while  the  hunter  is  after  some 
other  game. 

As  already  said,  ranchmen  do  not  have  much  idle  time 
on  their  hands,  for  their  duties  are  manifold,  and  they 
need  to  be  ever  on  the  watch  against  their  foes,  both  ani- 
mate and  inanimate.  Where  a  man  has  so  much  to  do 
he  cannot  spare  a  great  deal  of  his  time  for  any  amuse- 
ment ;  but  a  good  part  of  that  which  the  ranchman  can 
spare  he  is  very  apt  to  spend  in  hunting.  His  quarry  will 
be  one  of  the  seven  kinds  of  plains  game — bear,  buffalo, 
elk,  bighorn,  antelope,  blacktail  or  whitetail  deer. 
Moose,  caribou,  and  white  goat  never  come  down  into  the 
cattle  country ;  and  it  is  only  on  the  southern  ranches  near 
the  Rio  Grande  and  the  Rio  Colorado  that  the  truculent 
peccary  and  the  great  spotted  jaguar  are  found. 

Until  recently  all  sporting  on  the  plains  was  confined 
to  army  officers,  or  to  men  of  leisure  who  made  extensive 
trips  for  no  other  purpose  ;  leaving  out  of  consideration 
the  professional  hunters,  who  trapped  and  shot  for  their 
livelihood.  But  with  the  incoming  of  the  cattle-men,  there 
grew  up  a  class  of  residents,  men  with  a  stake  in  the 
welfare  of  the  country,  and  with  a  regular  business  carried 
on  in  it,  many  of  whom  were  keenly  devoted  to  sport, — a 
class  whose  members  were  in  many  respects  closely  akin 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.         29 

to  the  old  Southern  planters.     In  this  book  I  propose  to 
give  some  description  of  the  kind  of  sport  that  can  be 
had  by  the  average  ranchman  who  is  fond  of  the  rifle. 
Of  course  no  man  with  a  regular  business  can  have  such 
opportunities  as  fall  to  the  lot  of  some  who   pass  their 
lives  in  hunting  only  ;  and  we  cannot  pretend  to  equal  the 
achievements  of  such   men,   for  with  us  it  is  merely  a 
pleasure,  to  be  eagerly  sought  after  when  we  have  the 
chance,  but   not   to    be   allowed   to    interfere   with    our 
business.     No  ranchmen  have  time  to  make  such  extended 
trips  as  are  made  by  some  devotees  of  sport  who  are  so 
fortunate  as  to  have  no  every-day  work  to  which  to  attend. 
Still,  ranch  life  undoubtedly  offers  more  chance  to  a  man 
to  get  sport  than  is  now  the  case  with  any  other  occupa- 
tion in  America,  and  those  who  follow  it  are  apt  to  be 
men  of  game  spirit,  fond  of  excitement  and  adventure, 
who  perforce  lead  an  open-air  life,  who  must  needs  ride 
well,  for  they  are  often  in  the  saddle  from  sunrise  to  sun- 
set, and  who  naturally  take  kindly  to  that  noblest  of  weap- 
ons, the  rifle.     With  such  men  hunting  is  one  of  the  chief 
of  pleasures  ;  and  they  follow  it  eagerly  when  their  work 
will  allow  them.     And  with  some  of  them  it  is  at  times 
more  than  a  pleasure.     On  many  of  the  ranches — on  my 
own,    for  instance — the   supply   of   fresh    meat    depends 
mainly  on   the  skill   of   the   riflemen,  and   so,    both   for 
pleasure  and  profit,  most  ranchmen  do  a  certain  amount 
of  hunting  each  season.     The  buffalo  are  now  gone  for- 
ever, and  the    elk   are   rapidly  sharing   their   fate ;   but 
antelope  and  deer  are  still  quite  plenty,  and  will  remain  so 
for  some  years  ;  and  these  are  the  common  game  of  the 


30        Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

plainsman.  Nor  is  it  likely  that  the  game  will  disappear 
much  before  ranch  life  itself  is  a  thing  of  the  past.  It  is 
a  phase  of  American  life  as  fascinating  as  it  is  evanescent, 
and  one  well  deserving  an  historian.  But  in  these  pages  I 
propose  to  dwell  on  only  one  of  its  many  pleasant  sides, 
and  to  give  some  idea  of  the  game  shooting  which  forms 
perhaps  the  chief  of  the  cattle-man's  pleasures,  aside  from 
those  more  strictly  connected  with  his  actual  work.  I 
have  to  tell  of  no  unusual  adventures,  but  merely  of  just 
such  hunting  as  lies  within  reach  of  most  of  the  sport- 
loving  ranchmen  whose  cattle  range  along  the  waters  of 
the  Powder  and  the  Bighorn,  the  Little  Missouri  and  the 
Yellowstone. 

Of  course  I  have  never  myself  gone  out  hunting  under 
the  direction  of  a  professional  guide  or  professional  hunter, 
unless  it  was  to  see  one  of  the  latter  who  was  reputed 
a  crack  shot ;  all  of  my  trips  have  been  made  either  by 
myself  or  else  with  one  of  my  cowboys  as  a  companion. 
Most  of  the  so-called  hunters  are  not  worth  much.  There 
are  plenty  of  men  hanging  round  the  frontier  settlements 
who  claim  to  be  hunters,  and  who  bedizen  themselves  in 
all  the  traditional  finery  of  the  craft,  in  the  hope  of  getting 
a  job  at  guiding  some  "  tender-foot "  ;  and  there  are  plenty 
of  skin-hunters,  or  meat-hunters,  who,  after  the  Indians 
have  been  driven  away  and  when  means  of  communication 
have  been  established,  mercilessly  slaughter  the  game  in 
season  and  out,  being  too  lazy  to  work  at  any  regular 
trade,  and  keeping  on  hunting  until  the  animals  become 
too  scarce  and  shy  to  be  taken  without  more  skill  than  they 
possess ;  but  these  are  all  mere  temporary  excrescences, 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.        31 

and  the  true  old  Rocky  Mountain  hunter  and  trapper, 
the  plainsman,  or  mountain-man,  who,  with  all  his  faults, 
was  a  man  of  iron  nerve  and  will,  is  now  almost  a  thing  of 
the  past.  In  the  place  of  these  heroes  of  a  bygone  age, 
the  men  who  were  clad  in  buckskin  and  who  carried  long 
rifles,  stands,  or  rather  rides,  the  bronzed  and  sinewy  cow- 
boy, as  picturesque  and  self-reliant,  as  dashing  and  reso- 
lute as  the  saturnine  Indian  fighters  whose  place  he  has 
taken  ;  and,  alas  that  it  should  be  written  !  he  in  his  turn 
must  at  no  distant  time  share  the  fate  of  the  men  he  has 
displaced.  The  ground  over  which  he  so  gallantly  rides 
his  small,  wiry  horse  will  soon  know  him  no  more,  and  in 
his  stead  there  will  be  the  plodding  grangers  and  husband- 
men. I  suppose  it  is  right  and  for  the  best  that  the  great 
cattle  country,  with  its  broad  extent  of  fenceless  land,  over 
which  the  ranchman  rides  as  free  as  the  game  that  he  follows 
or  the  horned  herds  that  he  guards,  should  be  in  the  end 
broken  up  into  small  patches  of  fenced  farm  land  and 
grazing  land  ;  but  I  hope  against  hope  that  I  myself  shall 
not  live  to  see  this  take  place,  for  when  it  does  one  of 
the  pleasantest  and  freest  phases  of  western  American  life 
will  have  come  to  an  end. 

The  old  hunters  were  a  class  by  themselves.  They 
penetrated,  alone  or  in  small  parties,  to  the  farthest  and 
wildest  haunts  of  the  animals  they  followed,  leading  a  soli- 
tary, lonely  life,  often  never  seeing  a  white  face  for  months 
and  even  years  together.  They  were  skilful  shots,  and 
were  cool,  daring,  and  resolute  to  the  verge  of  reckless- 
ness. On  any  thing  like  even  terms  they  very  greatly 
overmatched  the  Indians  by  whom  they  were  surrounded. 


32        Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

and  with  whom  they  waged  constant  and  ferocious  wai 
In  the  government  expeditions  against  the  plains  tribes 
they  were  of  absolutely  invaluable  assistance  as  scouts 
They  rarely  had  regular  wives  or  white  children,  and  there 
are  none  to  take  their  places,  now  that  the  greater  part  of 
them  have  gone.  For  the  men  who  carry  on  hunting  as  a 
business  where  it  is  perfectly  safe  have  all  the  vices  of  their 
prototypes,  but,  not  having  to  face  the  dangers  that  beset  the 
latter,  so  neither  need  nor  possess  the  stern,  rough  virtues 
that  were  required  in  order  to  meet  and  overcome  them. 
The  ranks  of  the  skin-hunters  and  meat-hunters  contain 
some  good  men  ;  but  as  a  rule  they  are  a  most  unlovely 
race  of  beings,  not  excelling  even  in  the  pursuit  which 
they  follow  because  they  are  too  shiftless  to  do  any  thing 
else  ;  and  the  sooner  they  vanish  the  better. 

A  word  as  to  weapons  and  hunting  dress.  When  I 
first  came  to  the  plains  I  had  a  heavy  Sharps  rifle,  45-120, 
shooting  an  ounce  and  a  quarter  of  lead,  and  a  5ocalibre, 
double-barrelled  English  express.  Both  of  these,  espe- 
cially the  latter,  had  a  vicious  recoil ;  the  former  was  very 
clumsy  ;  and  above  all  they  were  neither  of  them  re- 
peaters ;  for  a  repeater  or  magazine  gun  is  as  much  superior 
to  a  single-  or  double-barrelled  breech-loader  as  the  latter 
is  to  a  muzzle-loader.  I  threw  them  both  aside :  and  have 
instead  a  40-90  Sharps  for  very  long  range  work ;  a 
5o-n5  6-shot  Bullard  express,  which  has  the  velocity, 
shock,  and  low  trajectory  of  the  English  gun  ;  and,  better 
than  either,  a  45-75  half-magazine  Winchester.  The  Win- 
chester, which  is  stocked  and  sighted  to  suit  myself,  is  by 
all  odds  the  best  weapon  I  ever  had,  and  I  now  use  it 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.        33 

almost  exclusively,  having  killed  every  kind  of  game  with 
it,  from  a  grizzly  bear  to  a  big-horn.  It  is  as  handy  to 
carry,  whether  on  foot  or  on  horseback,  and  comes  up  to 
the  shoulder  as  readily  as  a  shot-gun  ;  it  is  absolutely 
sure,  and  there  is  no  recoil  to  jar  and  disturb  the  aim, 
while  it  carries  accurately  quite  as  far  as  a  man  can  aim 
with  any  degree  of  certainty  ;  and  the  bullet,  weighing 
three  quarters  of  an  ounce,  is  plenty  large  enough  for  any 
thing  on  this  continent.  For  shooting  the  very  large 
game  (buffalo,  elephants,  etc.)  of  India  and  South  Africa, 
much  heavier  rifles  are  undoubtedly  necessary  ;  but  the 
Winchester  is  the  best  gun  for  any  game  to  be  found  in 
the  United  States,  for  it  is  as  deadly,  accurate,  and  handy 
as  any,  stands  very  rough  usage,  and  is  unapproachable 
for  the  rapidity  of  its  fire  and  the  facility  with  which  it  is 
loaded. 

Of  course  every  ranchman  carries  a  revolver,  a  long 
45  Colt  or  Smith  &  Wesson,  by  preference  the  former. 
When  after  game  a  hunting-knife  is  stuck  in  the  girdle. 
This  should  be  stout  and  sharp,  but  not  too  long,  with  a 
round  handle.  I  have  two  double-barrelled  shot-guns :  a 
No.  10  choke-bore  for  ducks  and  geese,  made  by  Thomas 
of  Chicago  ;  and  a  No.  16  hammerless,  built  for  me  by  Ken- 
nedy of  St.  Paul,  for  grouse  and  plover.  On  regular  hunting 
trips  I  always  carry  the  Winchester  rifle ;  but  in  riding 
round  near  home,  where  a  man  may  see  a  deer  and  is  sure  to 
come  across  ducks  and  grouse,  it  is  best  to  take  the  little 
ranch  gun,  a  double-barrel  No.  16,  with  a  40-70  rifle 
underneath  the  shot-gun  barrels. 

As  for  clothing,  when  only  off  on  a  day's  trip,  the 


34        Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

ordinary  ranchman's  dress  is  good  enough :  flannel  shirt, 
and  overalls  tucked  into  alligator  boots,  the  latter  being  of 
service  against  the  brambles,  cacti,  and  rattlesnakes.  Such 
a  costume  is  good  in  warm  weather.  When  making  a  long 
hunting  trip,  where  there  will  be  much  rough  work,  espe- 
cially in  the  dry  cold  of  fall  and  winter,  there  is  nothing  better 
than  a  fringed  buckskin  tunic  or  hunting-shirt,  (held  in  at  the 
waist  by  the  cartridge  belt,)  buckskin  trowsers,  and  a  fur  cap, 
with  heavy  moccasins  for  use  in  the  woods,  and  light  alliga- 
tor-hide shoes  if  it  is  intended  to  cross  rocks  and  open 
ground.  Buckskin  is  most  durable,  keeps  out  wind  and  cold, 
and  is  the  best  possible  color  for  the  hunter — no  small  point 
in  approaching  game.  For  wet  it  is  not  as  good  as  flannel, 
and  it  is  hot  in  warm  weather.  On  very  cold  days,  fur 
gloves  and  either  a  coon-skin  overcoat  or  a  short  riding 
jacket  of  fisher's  fur  may  be  worn.  In  cold  weather,  if 
travelling  light  with  only  what  can  be  packed  behind  the 
horse,  I  sleep  in  a  big  buffalo-robe,  sewed  up  at  the  sides 
and  one  end  into  the  form  of  a  bag,  and  very  warm.  When, 
as  is  sometimes  the  case,  the  spirit  in  the  thermometer  sinks 
to  —  6o°— 65°  Fahrenheit,  it  is  necessary  to  have  more 
wraps  and  bedding,  and  we  use  beaver-robes  and  bear- 
skins. An  oilskin  "slicker"  or  waterproof  overcoat  and 
a  pair  of  shaps  keep  out  the  rain  almost  completely. 

Where  most  of  the  hunting  is  done  on  horseback  the 
hunting-pony  is  a  very  important  animal.  Many  people 
seem  to  think  that  any  broken-down  pony  will  do  to  hunt, 
but  this  seems  to  me  a  very  great  mistake.  My  own 
hunting-horse,  Manitou,  is  the  best  and  most  valuable  ani- 
mal on  the  ranch.  He  is  stoutly  built  and  strong,  able  to 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.        35 

carry  a  good-sized  buck  behind  his  rider  for  miles  at  a 
lope  without  minding  it  in  the  least ;  he  is  very  enduring 
and  very  hardy,  not  only  picking  up  a  living  but  even 
growing  fat  when  left  to  shift  for  himself  under  very  hard 
conditions ;  and  he  is  perfectly  surefooted  and  as  fast  as 
any  horse  on  the  river.  Though  both  willing  and  spirited, 
he  is  very  gentle,  with  an  easy  mouth,  and  will  stay  graz- 
ing in  one  spot  when  left,  and  will  permit  himself  to  be 
caught  without  difficulty.  Add  to  these  virtues  the  fact 
that  he  will  let  any  dead  beast  or  thing  be  packed  on  him, 
and  will  allow  a  man  to  shoot  off  his  back  or  right  by  him 
without  moving,  and  it  is  evident  that  he  is  as  nearly 
perfect  as  can  be  the  case  with  hunting-horseflesh.  There 
is  a  little  sorrel  mare  on  the  ranch,  a  perfect  little  pet, 
that  is  almost  as  good,  but  too  small.  We  have  some 
other  horses  we  frequently  use,  but  all  have  faults.  Some 
of  the  quiet  ones  are  slow,  lazy,  or  tire  easily ;  others  are 
gun  shy ;  while  others  plunge  and  buck  if  we  try  to  pack 
any  game  on  their  backs.  Others  cannot  be  left  standing 
untied,  as  they  run  away ;  and  I  can  imagine  few  forms  of 
exercise  so  soul-harrowing  as  that  of  spending  an  hour  or 
two  in  running,  in  shaps,  top  boots,  and  spurs  over  a 
broken  prairie,  with  the  thermometer  at  90°,  after  an 
escaped  horse.  Most  of  the  hunting-horses  used  by  my 
friends  have  one  or  more  of  these  tricks,  and  it  is  rare  to 
find  one,  like  Manitou,  who  has  none  of  them.  Manitou 
is  a  treasure  and  I  value  him  accordingly.  Besides,  he  is 
a  sociable  old  fellow,  and  a  great  companion  when  off 
alone,  coming  up  to  have  his  head  rubbed  or  to  get  a 
crust  of  bread,  of  which  he  is  very  fond. 


36        Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

To  be  remarkably  successful  in  killing  game  a  man 
must  be  a  good  shot ;  but  a  good  target  shot  may  be  a 
very  poor  hunter,  and  a  fairly  successful  hunter  may  be 
only  a  moderate  shot.  Shooting  well  with  the  rifle  is  the 
highest  kind  of  skill,  for  the  rifle  is  the  queen  of  weapons ; 
and  it  is  a  difficult  art  to  learn.  But  many  other  qualities 
go  to  make  up  the  first-class  hunter.  He  must  be  perse- 
vering, watchful,  hardy,  and  with  good  judgment ;  and  a 
little  dash  and  energy  at  the  proper  time  often  help  him 
immensely.  I  myself  am  not,  and  never  will  be,  more 
than  an  ordinary  shot ;  for  my  eyes  are  bad  and  my  hand 
not  over-steady ;  yet  I  have  killed  every  kind  of  game  to 
be  found  on  the  plains,  partly  because  I  have  hunted  very 
perseveringly,  and  partly  because  by  practice  I  have 
learned  to  shoot  about  as  well  at  a  wild  animal  as  at  a 
target.  I  have  killed  rather  more  game  than  most  of 
the  ranchmen  who  are  my  neighbors,  though  at  least 
half  of  them  are  better  shots  than  I  am. 

Time  and  again  I  have  seen  a  man  who  had,  as  he 
deemed,  practised  sufficiently  at  a  target,  come  out  "to 
kill  a  deer,"  hot  with  enthusiasm ;  and  nine  out  of  ten 
times  he  has  gone  back  unsuccessful,  even  when  deer  were 
quite  plenty.  Usually  he  has  been  told  by  the  friend  who 
advised  him  to  take  the  trip,  or  by  the  guide  who  inveigled 
him  into  it,  that  "  the  deer  were  so  plenty  you  saw  them  all 
round  you,"  and,  this  not  proving  quite  true,  he  lacks  per- 
severance to  keep  on ;  or  else  he  fails  to  see  the  deer  at 
the  right  time ;  or  else  if  he  does  see  it  he  misses  it,  mak- 
ing the  discovery  that  to  shoot  at  a  gray  object,  not  over- 
distinctly  seen,  at  a  distance  merely  guessed  at,  and  with  a 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.       37 

background  of  other  gray  objects,  is  very  different  from 
firing  into  a  target,  brightly  painted  and  a  fixed  number  of 
yards  off.  A  man  must  be  able  to  hit  a  bull's-eye  eight 
inches  across  every  time  to  do  good  work  with  deer  or 
other  game ;  for  the  spot  around  the  shoulders  that  is 
fatal  is  not  much  bigger  than  this  ;  and  a  shot  a  little  back 
of  that  merely  makes  a  wound  which  may  in  the  end  prove 
mortal,  but  which  will  in  all  probability  allow  the  animal  to 
escape  for  the  time  being.  It  takes  a  good  shot  to  hit  a 
bull's-eye  off-hand  several  times  in  succession  at  a  hundred 
yards,  and  if  the  bull's-eye  was  painted  the  same  color  as  the 
rest  of  the  landscape,  and  was  at  an  uncertain  distance,  and, 
moreover,  was  alive,  and  likely  to  take  to  its  heels  at  any 
moment,  the  difficulty  of  making  a  good  shot  would  be 
greatly  enhanced.  The  man  who  can  kill  his  buck  right 
along  at  a  hundred  yards  has  a  right  to  claim  that  he  is  a 
good  shot.  If  he  can  shoot  off-hand  standing  up,  that  is 
much  the  best  way,  but  I  myself  always  drop  on  one  knee, 
if  I  have  time,  unless  the  animal  is  very  close.  It  is 
curious  to  hear  the  nonsense  that  is  talked  and  to 
see  the  nonsense  that  is  written  about  the  distances 
at  which  game  is  killed.  Rifles  now  carry  with  deadly 
effect  the  distance  of  a  mile,  and  most  middle-range 
hunting-rifles  would  at  least  kill  at  half  a  mile  ;  and  in  war 
firing  is  often  begun  at  these  ranges.  But  in  war  there  is 
very  little  accurate  aiming,  and  the  fact  that  there  is  a 
variation  of  thirty  or  forty  feet  in  the  flight  of  the  ball 
makes  no  difference ;  and,  finally,  a  thousand  bullets  are 
fired  for  every  man  that  is  killed — and  usually  many  more 
than  a  thousand.  How  would  that  serve  for  a  record  on 


38       Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

game  ?  The  truth  is  that  three  hundred  yards  is  a  very  long 
shot,  and  that  even  two  hundred  yards  is  a  long  shot.  On 
looking  over  my  game-book  I  find  that  the  average  distance 
at  which  I  have  killed  game  on  the  plains  is  less  than  a 
hundred  and  fifty  yards.  A  few  years  ago,  when  the 
buffalo  would  stand  still  in  great  herds,  half  a  mile  from 
the  hunter,  the  latter,  using  a  long-range  Sharp's  rifle, 
would  often,  by  firing  a  number  of  shots  into  the  herd  at 
that  distance,  knock  over  two  or  three  buffalo  ;  but  I  have 
hardly  ever  known  single  animals  to  be  killed  six  hundred 
yards  off,  even  in  antelope  hunting,  the  kind  in  which 
most  long-range  shooting  is  done ;  and  at  half  that  dis- 
tance a  very  good  shot,  with  all  the  surroundings  in  his 
favor,  is  more  apt  to  miss  than  to  hit.  Of  course  old 
hunters — the  most  inveterate  liars  on  the  face  of  the 
earth — are  all  the  time  telling  of  their  wonderful  shots  at 
even  longer  distances,  and  they  do  occasionally,  when 
shooting  very  often,  make  them,  but  their  performances, 
when  actually  tested,  dwindle  amazingly.  Others,  ama- 
teurs, will  brag  of  their  rifles.  I  lately  read  in  a  magazine 
about  killing  antelopes  at  eight  hundred  yards  with  a 
Winchester  express,  a  weapon  which  cannot  be  depended 
upon  at  over  two  hundred,  and  is  wholly  inaccurate  at 
over  three  hundred,  yards. 

The  truth  is  that,  in  almost  all  cases  the  hunter  merely 
guesses  at  the  distance,  and,  often  perfectly  honestly,  just 
about  doubles  it  in  his  own  mind.  Once  a  man  told  me 
of  an  extraordinary  shot  by  which  he  killed  a  deer  at  four 
hundred  yards.  A  couple  of  days  afterward  we  happened 
to  pass  the  place,  and  I  had  the  curiosity  to  step  off  the  dis- 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.        39 

tance,  finding  it  a  trifle  over  a  hundred  and  ninety.  I 
always  make  it  a  rule  to  pace  off  the  distance  after  a 
successful  shot,  whenever  practicable — that  is,  when  the 
animal  has  not  run  too  far  before  dropping, — and  I  was 
at  first  both  amused  and  somewhat  chagrined  to  see  how 
rapidly  what  I  had  supposed  to  be  remarkably  long  shots 
shrank  under  actual  pacing.  It  is  a  good  rule  always  to 
try  to  get  as  near  the  game  as  possible,  and  in  most  cases 
it  is  best  to  risk  startling  it  in  the  effort  to  get  closer 
rather  than  to  risk  missing  it  by  a  shot  at  long  range. 
At  the  same  time,  I  am  a  great  believer  in  powder- 
burning,  and  if  I  cannot  get  near,  will  generally  try  a 
shot  anyhow,  if  there  is  a  chance  of  the  rifle's  carrying 
to  it.  In  this  way  a  man  will  now  and  then,  in  the 
midst  of  many  misses,  make  a  very  good  long  shot,  but 
he  should  not  try  to  deceive  himself  into  the  belief  that 
these  occasional  long  shots  are  to  be  taken  as  samples  of 
his  ordinary  skill.  Yet  it  is  curious  to  see  how  a  really 
truthful  man  will  forget  his  misses,  and  his  hits  at  close 
quarters,  and,  by  dint  of  constant  repetition,  will  finally 
persuade  himself  that  he  is  in  the  habit  of  killing  his  game 
at  three  or  four  hundred  yards.  Of  course  in  different 
kinds  of  ground  the  average  range  for  shooting  varies. 
In  the  Bad  Lands  most  shots  will  be  obtained  much  closer 
than  on  the  prairie,  and  in  the  timber  they  will  be  nearer 
still. 

Old  hunters  who  are  hardy,  persevering,  and  well 
acquainted  with  the  nature  of  the  animals  they  pursue, 
will  often  kill  a  great  deal  of  game  without  being  particu- 
larly good  marksmen  ;  besides,  they  are  careful  to  get  up 


40       Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

close,  and  are  not  flurried  at  all,  shooting  as  well  at  a  deer 
as  they  do  at  a  target  They  are,  as  a  rule,  fair  shots — 
that  is,  they  shoot  a  great  deal  better  than  Indians  or 
soldiers,  or  than  the  general  run  of  Eastern  amateur 
sportsmen  ;  but  I  have  never  been  out  with  one  who  has 
not  missed  a  great  deal,  and  the  "  Leather-stocking  "  class 
of  shooting  stories  are  generally  untrue,  at  least  to  the 
extent  of  suppressing  part  of  the  truth — that  is,  the  num- 
ber of  misses.  Beyond  question  our  Western  hunters 
are,  as  a  body,  to  the  full  as  good  marksmen  as,  and 
probably  much  better  than,  any  other  body  of  men  in  the 
world,  not  even  excepting  the  Dutch  Boers  or  Tyrolese 
Jagers,  and  a  certain  number  of  them  who  shoot  a  great 
deal  at  game,  and  are  able  to  squander  cartridges  very 
freely,  undoubtedly  become  crack  shots,  and  perform 
really  wonderful  feats.  As  an  instance  there  is  old 
"Vic,"  a  former  scout  and  Indian  fighter,  and  concededly 
the  best  hunter  on  the  Little  Missouri  ;  probably  there 
are  not  a  dozen  men  in  the  West  who  are  better  shots 
or  hunters  than  he  is,  and  I  have  seen  him  do  most 
skilful  work.  He  can  run  the  muzzle  of  his  rifle  through 
a  board  so  as  to  hide  the  sights,  and  yet  do  quite  good 
shooting  at  some  little  distance  ;  he  will  cut  the  head  off 
a  chicken  at  eighty  or  ninety  yards,  shoot  a  deer  running 
through  brush  at  that  distance,  kill  grouse  on  the  wing 
early  in  the  season,  and  knock  over  antelopes  when  they 
are  so  far  off  that  I  should  not  dream  of  shooting.  He 
firmly  believes,  and  so  do  most  men  that  speak  of  him, 
that  he  never  misses.  Yet  I  have  known  him  make  miss 
after  miss  at  game,  and  some  that  were  not  such  especially 


Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands.        41 

difficult  shots  either.  One  secret  of  his  success  is  his 
constant  practice.  He  is  firing  all  the  time,  at  marks, 
small  birds,  etc.,  etc.,  and  will  average  from  fifty  to  a  hun- 
dred cartridges  a  day  ;  he  certainly  uses  nearly  twenty 
thousand  a  year,  while  a  man  who  only  shoots  for  sport, 
and  that  occasionally,  will,  in  practising  at  marks  and 
every  thing  else,  hardly  get  through  with  five  hundred. 
Besides,  he  was  cradled  in  the  midst  of  wild  life,  and  has 
handled  a  rifle  and  used  it  against  both  brute  and  human 
foes  almost  since  his  infancy  ;  his  nerves  and  sinews  are 
like  iron,  and  his  eye  is  naturally  both  quick  and  true. 

Vic  is  an  exception.  With  practice  an  amateur  will 
become  nearly  as  good  a  shot  as  the  average  hunter ;  and, 
as  I  said  before,  I  do  not  myself  believe  in  taking  out  a 
professional  hunter  as  a  shooting  companion.  If  I  do  not 
go  alone  I  generally  go  with  one  of  my  foremen,  Merri- 
field,  who  himself  came  from  the  East  but  five  years  ago. 
He  is  a  good-looking  fellow,  daring  and  self-reliant,  a 
good  rider  and  first-class  shot,  and  a  very  keen  sportsman. 
Of  late  years  he  has  been  my  fidus  Achates  of  the  hunt- 
ing field.  I  can  kill  more  game  with  him  than  I  can 
alone ;  and  in  hunting  on  the  plains  there  are  many 
occasions  on  which  it  is  almost  a  necessity  to  have  a 
companion  along. 

It  frequently  happens  that  a  solitary  hunter  finds  him- 
self in  an  awkward  predicament,  from  which  he  could  be 
extricated  easily  enough  if  there  were  another  man  with 
him.  His  horse  may  fall  into  a  wash-out,  or  may  get 
stuck  in  a  mud-hole  or  quicksand  in  such  a  manner  that 
a  man  working  by  himself  will  have  great  difficulty  in 


42        Ranching  in  the  Bad  Lands. 

getting  it  out ;  and  two  heads  often  prove  better  than 
one  in  an  emergency,  especially  if  a  man  gets  hurt  in 
any  way.  The  first  thing  that  a  western  plainsman  has 
to  learn  is  the  capacity  for  self-help,  but  at  the  same 
time  he  must  not  forget  that  occasions  may  arise  when 
the  help  of  others  will  be  most  grateful. 


CHAPTER    II. 


WATERFOWL, 


NE     cool    afternoon    in    the 
early  fall,  while  sitting  on 
the  veranda  of   the  ranch^ 
house,  we  heard  a  long  way 
off  the  ha-ha-honk,   ha-honk,   of  a 
gang  of   wild  geese  ;    and    shortly 
afterward   they  came    in    sight,    in 
a   V-shaped    line,    flying    low   and 
write     heavily     toward     the     south, 

"i]i  r  n//j 

along  the  course  of  the  stream.  They  went  by  within 
a  hundred  yards  of  the  house,  and  we  watched  them 
for  some  minutes  as  they  flew  up  the  valley,  for  they 
were  so  low  in  the  air  that  it  seemed  certain  that 
they  would  soon  alight  ;  and  light  they  did  when 
they  were  less  than  a  mile  past  us.  As  the  ground 
was  flat  and  without  much  cover  where  they  had  set- 
tled, I  took  the  rifle  instead  of  a  shot-gun  and  hurried 
after  them  on  foot.  WTild  geese  are  very  watchful  and 
wary,  and  as  I  came  toward  the  place  where  I  thought 

43 


44  Waterfowl* 

they  were  I  crept  along  with  as  much  caution  as  if 
the  game  had  been  a  deer.  At  last,  peering  through 
a  thick  clump  of  bullberry  bushes  I  saw  them.  They 
were  clustered  on  a  high  sandbar  in  the  middle  of  the 
river,  which  here  ran  in  a  very  wide  bed  between  low 
banks.  The  only  way  to  get  at  them  was  to  crawl  along 
the  river-bed,  which  was  partly  dry,  using  the  patches 
of  rushes  and  the  sand  hillocks  and  drift-wood  to  shield 
myself  from  their  view.  As  it  was  already  late  and 
the  sun  was  just  sinking,  I  hastily  retreated  a  few  paces, 
dropped  over  the  bank,  and  began  to  creep  along  on 
my  hands  and  knees  through  the  sand  and  gravel.  Such 
work  is  always  tiresome,  and  it  is  especially  so  when  done 
against  time.  I  kept  in  line  with  a  great  log  washed  up  on 
the  shore,  which  was  some  seventy-five  yards  from  the 
geese.  On  reaching  it  and  looking  over  I  was  annoyed 
to  find  that  in  the  fading  light  I  could  not  distin- 
guish the  birds  clearly  enough  to  shoot,  as  the  dark 
river  bank  was  behind  them.  I  crawled  quickly  back 
a  few  yards,  and  went  off  a  good  bit  to  the  left  into 
a  hollow.  Peeping  over  the  edge  I  could  now  see  the 
geese,  gathered  into  a  clump  with  their  necks  held 
straight  out,  sharply  outlined  against  the  horizon  ;  the 
sand  flats  stretching  out  on  either  side,  while  the  sky 
above  was  barred  with  gray  and  faint  crimson.  I  fired  into 
the  thickest  of  the  bunch,  and  as  the  rest  flew  off,  with 
discordant  clamor,  ran  forward  and  picked  up  my  victim, 
a  fat  young  wild  goose  (or  Canada  goose),  the  body  badly 
torn  by  the  bullet 

On  two  other  occasions  I  have  killed  geese  with  the 


Waterfowl.  45 

rifle.  Once  while  out  riding  along  the  river  bottoms,  just 
at  dawn,  my  attention  was  drawn  to  a  splashing  and  low 
cackling  in  the  stream,  where  the  water  deepened  in  a 
wide  bend,  which  swept  round  a  low  bluff.  Leaving  my 
horse  where  he  was,  I  walked  off  towards  the  edge  of  the 
stream,  and  lying  on  the  brink  of  the  bank  looked  over 
into  the  water  of  the  bend.  Only  a  faint  streak  of  light 
was  visible  in  the  east,  so  that  objects  on  the  water  could 
hardly  be  made  out ;  and  the  little  wreaths  of  mist  that 
rose  from  the  river  made  the  difficulty  even  greater.  The 
birds  were  some  distance  above  me,  where  the  water  made 
a  long  straight  stretch  through  a  sandy  level.  I  could  not 
see  them,  but  could  plainly  hear  their  low  murmuring  and 
splashing,  and  once  one  of  them,  as  I  judged  by  the  sound, 
stood  up  on  end  and  flapped  its  wings  vigorously.  Pretty 
soon  a  light  puff  of  wind  blew  the  thin  mist  aside,  and  I 
caught  a  glimpse  of  them  ;  as  I  had  supposed,  they  were 
wild  geese,  five  of  them,  swimming  slowly,  or  rather  rest- 
ing on  the  water,  and  being  drifted  down  with  the  current. 
The  fog  closed  over  them  again,  but  it  was  growing  light 
very  rapidly,  and  in  a  short  time  I  knew  they  would  be  in 
the  still  water  of  the  bend  just  below  me,  so  I  rose  on  my 
elbows  and  held  my  rifle  ready  at  the  poise.  In  a  few 
minutes,  before  the  sun  was  above  the  horizon,  but  when 
there  was  plenty  of  light  by  which  to  shoot,  another  eddy 
in  the  wind  blew  away  the  vapor  and  showed  the  five 
geese  in  a  cluster,  some  thirty  yards  off.  I  fired  at  once, 
and  one  of  the  geese,  kicking  and  flapping  frantically,  fell 
over,  its  neck  half  cut  from  the  body,  while  the  others, 
with  laborious  effort,  got  under  way.  Before  they  could 


46  Waterfowl. 

get  their  heavy  bodies  fairly  off  the  water  and  out  of 
range,  I  had  taken  three  more  shots,  but  missed.  Waiting 
till  the  dead  goose  drifted  into  shore,  I  picked  it  up  and 
tied  it  on  the  saddle  of  my  horse  to  carry  home  to  the 
ranch.  Being  young  and  fat  it  was  excellent  eating. 

The  third  goose  I  killed  with  the  rifle  was  of  a  differ- 
ent kind.  I  had  been  out  after  antelopes,  starting  before 
there  was  any  light  in  the  heavens,  and  pushing  straight 
out  towards  the  rolling  prairie.  After  two  or  three  hours, 
when  the  sun  was  well  up,  I  neared  where  a  creek  ran  in 
a  broad,  shallow  valley.  I  had  seen  no  game,  and  before 
coming  up  to  the  crest  of  the  divide  beyond  which  lay  the 
creek  bottom,  I  dismounted  and  crawled  up  to  it,  so  as  to 
see  if  any  animal  had  come  down  to  drink.  Field  glasses 
are  almost  always  carried  while  hunting  on  the  plains,  as 
the  distances  at  which  one  can  see  game  are  so  enormous. 
On  looking  over  the  crest  with  the  glasses  the  valley  of 
the  creek  for  about  a  mile  was  stretched  before  me.  At 
my  feet  the  low  hills  came  closer  together  than  in  other 
places,  and  shelved  abruptly  down  to  the  bed  of  the  val- 
ley, where  there  was  a  small  grove  of  box-alders  and 
cotton-woods.  The  beavers  had,  in  times  gone  by,  built  a 
large  dam  at  this  place  across  the  creek,  which  must  have 
produced  a  great  back-flow  and  made  a  regular  little  lake 
in  the  times  of  freshets.  But  the  dam  was  now  broken, 
and  the  beavers,  or  most  of  them,  gone,  and  in  the  place 
of  the  lake  was  a  long  green  meadow.  Glancing  towards 
this  my  eye  was  at  once  caught  by  a  row  of  white  objects 
stretched  straight  across  it,  and  another  look  showed  me 
that  they  were  snow-geese.  They  were  feeding,  and  were 


Waterfowl.  47 

moving  abreast  of  one  another  slowly  down  the  length  of 
the  meadow  towards  the  end  nearest  me,  where  the  patch 
of  small  trees  and  brushwood  lay.  A  goose  is  not  as  big 
game  as  an  antelope  ;  still  I  had  never  shot  a  snow-goose, 
and  we  needed  fresh  meat,  so  I  slipped  back  over  the  crest 
and  ran  down  to  the  bed  of  the  creek,  round  a  turn  of  the 
hill,  where  the  geese  were  out  of  sight.  The  creek  was 
not  an  entirely  dry  one,  but  there  was  no  depth  of  water 
in  it  except  in  certain  deep  holes ;  elsewhere  it  was  a 
muddy  ditch  with  steep  sides,  difficult  to  cross  on  horse- 
back because  of  the  quicksands.  I  walked  up  to  the  trees 
without  any  special  care,  as  they  screened  me  from  view, 
and  looked  cautiously  out  from  behind  them.  The  geese 
were  acting  just  as  our  tame  geese  act  in  feeding  on  a 
common,  moving  along  with  their  necks  stretched  out  be- 
fore them,  nibbling  and  jerking  at  the  grass  as  they  tore  it 
up  by  mouthfuls.  They  were  very  watchful,  and  one  or 
the  other  of  them  had  its  head  straight  in  the  air  looking 
sharply  round  all  the  time.  Geese  will  not  come  near  any 
cover  in  which  foes  may  be  lurking  if  they  can  help  it, 
and  so  I  feared  that  they  would  turn  before  coming  near 
enough  to  the  brush  to  give  me  a  good  shot.  I  therefore 
dropped  into  the  bed  of  the  creek,  which  wound  tortu- 
ously along  the  side  of  the  meadow,  and  crept  on  all 
fours  along  one  of  its  banks  until  I  came  to  where  it  made 
a  loop  out  towards  the  middle  of  the  bottom.  Here  there 
was  a  tuft  of  tall  grass,  which  served  as  a  good  cover,  and 
I  stood  upright,  dropping  my  hat,  and  looking  through 
between  the  blades.  The  geese,  still  in  a  row,  with  sev- 
eral yards'  interval  between  each  one  and  his  neighbor, 


48  Waterfowl. 

were  only  sixty  or  seventy  yards  off,  still  feeding  towards 
me.  They  came  along  quite  slowly,  and  the  ones  nearest, 
with  habitual  suspicion,  edged  away  from  the  scattered 
tufts  of  grass  and  weeds  which  marked  the  brink  of  the 
creek.  I  tried  to  get  two  in  line,  but  could  not.  There 
was  one  gander  much  larger  than  any  other  bird  in  the 
lot,  though  not  the  closest  to  me;  as  he  went  by  just 
opposite  my  hiding-place,  he  stopped  still,  broadside  to 
me,  and  I  aimed  just  at  the  root  of  the  neck — for  he  was 
near  enough  for  any  one  firing  a  rifle  from  a  rest  to  hit  him 
about  where  he  pleased.  Away  flew  the  others,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  I  was  riding  along  with  the  white  gander 
dangling  behind  my  saddle. 

The  beaver  meadows  spoken  of  above  are  not  com- 
mon, but,  until  within  the  last  two  or  three  years,  beavers 
themselves  were  very  plentiful,  and  there  are  still  a  good 
many  left.  Although  only  settled  for  so  short  a  period, 
the  land  has  been  known  to  hunters  for  half  a  century,  and 
throughout  that  time  it  has  at  intervals  been  trapped  over 
by  whites  or  half-breeds.  If  fur  was  high  and  the  Indians 
peaceful  quite  a  number  of  trappers  would  come  in,  for 
the  Little  Missouri  Bad  Lands  were  always  famous  both 
for  fur  and  game ;  then  if  fur  went  down,  or  an  Indian  war 
broke  out,  or  if  the  beaver  got  pretty  well  thinned  out,  the 
place  would  be  forsaken  and  the  animals  would  go  un- 
molested for  perhaps  a  dozen  years,  when  the  process 
would  be  repeated.  But  the  incoming  of  the  settlers  and 
the  driving  out  of  the  Indians  have  left  the  ground  clear 
for  the  trappers  to  work  over  unintermittently,  and  the 
extinction  of  the  beaver  throughout  the  plains  country  is 


Waterfowl.  49 

a  question  of  but  a  short  time.  Excepting  an  occasional 
otter  or  mink,  or  a  few  musk-rats,  it  is  the  only  fur-bearing 
animal  followed  by  the  western  plains  trapper ;  and  its 
large  size  and  the  marked  peculiarities  of  its  habits,  to- 
gether with  the  accessibility  of  its  haunts  on  the  plains, 
as  compared  with  its  haunts  in  the  deep  woods  and  moun- 
tains, render  its  pursuit  and  capture  comparatively  easy. 
We  have  trapped  (or  occasionally  shot)  on  the  ranch 
during  the  past  three  years  several  score  beaver ;  the  fur 
is  paler  and  less  valuable  than  in  the  forest  animal.  Those 
that  live  in  the  river  do  not  build  dams  all  across  it,  but 
merely  extending  up  some  distance  against  the  current,  so 
as  to  make  a  deep  pool  or  eddy,  beside  which  are  the 
burrows  and  houses.  It  would  seem  to  be  a  simple  feat 
to  break  into  a  beaver  house,  but  in  reality  it  needs  no 
little  toil  with  both  spade  and  axe,  for  the  house  has  very 
thick  roof  and  walls,  made  of  clay  and  tough  branches, 
twisted  together  into  a  perfect  mat,  which,  when  frozen, 
can  withstand  any  thing  but  the  sharpest  and  best  of  tools. 
At  evening  beaver  often  come  out  to  swim,  and  by  wait- 
ing on  the  bank  perfectly  quietly  for  an  hour  or  so  a  close 
shot  can  frequently  be  obtained. 

Beaver  are  often  found  in  the  creeks,  not  only  in  those 
which  always  contain  running  water,  but  also  in  the  dry 
ones.  Here  they  build  dams  clean  across,  making  ponds 
which  always  contain  water,  even  if  the  rest  of  the  bed 
is  almost  dry ;  and  I  have  often  been  surprised  to  find 
fresh  traces  of  beaver  in  a  pond  but  a  few  feet  across, 
a  mile  away  from  any  other  body  of  water.  On  one 
occasion  I  was  deer-hunting  in  a  rough,  broken  country, 


so  Waterfowl. 

which  was  little  more  than  a  tangle  of  ravines  and  clefts, 
with  very  steep  sides  rising  into  sharp  hills.  The  sides  of 
the  ravines  were  quite  densely  overgrown  with  underbrush 
and  young  trees,  and  through  one  or  two  of  them  ran, 
or  rather  trickled,  small  streams,  but  an  inch  or  two  in  depth, 
and  often  less.  Directly  across  one  of  these  ravines,  at 
its  narrowest  and  steepest  part,  the  beaver  had  built  an 
immense,  massive  dam,  completely  stopping  the  course  of 
a  little  brooklet.  The  dam  was  certainly  eight  feet  high, 
and  strong  enough  and  broad  enough  to  cross  on  horse- 
back ;  and  it  had  turned  back  the  stream  until  a  large 
pond,  almost  a  little  lake,  had  been  formed  by  it.  This 
was  miles  from  any  other  body  of  water,  but,  judging 
from  the  traces  of  their  work,  it  had  once  held  a  large 
colony  of  beavers ;  when  I  saw  it  they  had  all  been 
trapped  out,  and  the  pond  had  been  deserted  for  a  year 
and  over.  Though  clumsy  on  dry  ground,  and  fearing 
much  to  be  caught  upon  it,  yet  beaver  can  make,  if 
necessary,  quite  long  overland  journeys,  and  that  at  a 
speed  with  which  it  will  give  a  man  trouble  to  keep  up. 

As  there  are  few  fish  in  the  plains  streams,  otters  are 
naturally  not  at  all  common,  though  occasionally  we  get 
one.  Musk-rats  are  quite  plenty  in  all  the  pools  of  water. 
Sometimes  a  little  pool  out  on  the  prairie  will  show  along 
its  edges  numerous  traces  of  animal  life  ;  for,  though  of 
small  extent,  and  a  long  distance  from  other  water,  it  may 
be  the  home  of  beavers  and  musk-rats,  the  breeding-place 
of  different  kinds  of  ducks,  and  the  drinking-place  for  the 
denizens  of  the  dry  country  roundabouts,  such  as  wolves, 
antelopes,  and  badgers. 


Waterfowl.  5* 

Although  the  plains  country  is  in  most  places  very 
dry,  yet  there  are  here  and  there  patches  of  prairie  land 
where  the  reverse  is  true.  One  such  is  some  thirty  miles 
distant  from  my  ranch.  The  ground  is  gently  rolling,  in 
some  places  almost  level,  and  is  crossed  by  two  or  three 
sluggish,  winding  creeks,  with  many  branches,  always  hold- 
ing water,  and  swelling  out  into  small  pools  and  lakelets 
wherever  there  is  a  hollow.  The  prairie  round  about  is 
wet,  at  times  almost  marshy,  especially  at  the  borders  of 
the  great  reedy  slews.  These  pools  and  slews  are  favorite 
breeding-places  for  water-fowl,  especially  for  mallard,  and 
a  good  bag  can  be  made  at  them  in  the  fall,  both  among 
the  young  flappers  (as  tender  and  delicious  birds  for  the 
table  as  any  I  know),  and  among  the  flights  of  wild  duck 
that  make  the  region  a  stopping-place  on  their  southern 
migration.  In  these  small  pools,  with  little  cover  round 
the  edges,  the  poor  flappers  are  at  a  great  disadvantage  ; 
we  never  shoot  them  unless  we  really  need  them  for  the 
table.  But  quite  often,  in  August  or  September,  if  near 
the  place,  I  have  gone  down  to  visit  one  or  two  of  the 
pools,  and  have  brought  home  half  a  dozen  flappers,  killed 
with  the  rifle  if  I  had  been  out  after  large  game,  or  with 
the  revolver  if  I  had  merely  been  among  the  cattle, — each 
duck,  in  the  latter  case,  representing  the  expenditure  of  a 
vast  number  of  cartridges. 

Later  in  the  fall,  when  the  young  ducks  are  grown  and 
the  flocks  are  coming  in  from  the  north,  fair  shooting  may 
be  had  by  lying  in  the  rushes  on  the  edge  of  some  large 
pond,  and  waiting  for  the  evening  flight  of  the  birds  ;  or 
else  by  taking  a  station  on  some  spot  of  low  ground 


52  Waterfowl. 

across  which  the  ducks  fly  in  passing  from  one  sheet  of 
water  to  another.  Frequently  quite  a  bag  of  mallard, 
widgeon,  and  pintail  can  be  made  in  this  manner,  although 
nowhere  in  the  Bad  Lands  is  there  any  such  duck-shooting 
as  is  found  farther  east.  Ducks  are  not  very  easy  to  kill, 
or  even  to  hit,  when  they  fly  past.  My  duck-gun,  the 
No.  10  choke-bore,  is  a  very  strong  and  close  shooting 
piece,  and  such  a  one  is  needed  when  the  strong-flying 
birds  are  at  any  distance ;  but  the  very  fact  of  its  shooting 
so  close  makes  it  necessary  that  the  aim  should  be  very 
true  ;  and  as  a  consequence  my  shooting  at  ducks  has 
varied  from  bad  to  indifferent,  and  my  bags  have  been 
always  small. 

Once  I  made  an  unusually  successful  right  and  left, 
however.  In  late  summer  and  early  fall  large  flocks  of 
both  green-winged  and  blue-winged  teal  are  often  seen 
both  on  the  ponds  and  on  the  river,  flying  up  and  down 
the  latter.  On  one  occasion  while  out  with  the  wagon  we 
halted  for  the  mid-day  meal  on  the  bank  of  the  river. 
Travelling  across  the  plains  in  company  with  a  wagon,  es- 
pecially if  making  a  long  trip,  as  we  were  then  doing,  is 
both  tiresome  and  monotonous.  The  scenery  through  the 
places  where  the  wagon  must  go  is  everywhere  much  the 
same,  and  the  pace  is  very  slow.  At  lunch-time  I  was 
glad  to  get  off  the  horse,  which  had  been  plodding  along 
at  a  walk  for  hours,  and  stretch  my  muscles  ;  and,  noticing 
a  bunch  of  teal  fly  past  and  round  a  bend  in  the  river, 
I  seized  the  chance  for  a  little  diversion,  and  taking 
my  double-barrel,  followed  them  on  foot.  The  banks 
were  five  or  six  feet  high,  edged  with  a  thick  growth  of 


Waterfowl.  53 

cotton-wood  saplings ;  so  the  chance  to  creep  up  was  very 
good.  On  getting  round  the  bend  I  poked  my  head 
through  the  bushes,  and  saw  that  the  little  bunch  I  was 
after  had  joined  a  great  flock  of  teal,  which  was  on  a  sand 
bar  in  the  middle  of  the  stream.  They  were  all  huddled 
together,  some  standing  on  the  bar,  and  others  in  the 
water  right  by  it,  and  I  aimed  for  the  thickest  part  of  the 
flock.  At  the  report  they  sprang  into  the  air,  and  I 
leaped  to  my  feet  to  give  them  the  second  barrel,  when, 
from  under  the  bank  right  beneath  me,  two  shoveller  or 
spoon-bill  ducks  rose,  with  great  quacking,  and,  as  they 
were  right  in  line,  I  took  them  instead,  knocking  both 
over.  When  I  had  fished  out  the  two  shovellers,  I  waded 
over  to  the  sand  bar  and  picked  up  eleven  teal,  making 
thirteen  ducks  with  the  two  barrels. 

On  one  occasion  my  brother  and  myself  made  a  short 
wagon  trip  in  the  level,  fertile,  farming  country,  whose 
western  edge  lies  many  miles  to  the  east  of  the  Bad  Lands 
around  my  ranch.  There  the  land  was  already  partially 
settled  by  farmers,  and  we  had  one  or  two  days'  quite  fair 
duck-shooting.  It  was  a  rolling  country  of  mixed  prairie 
land  and  rounded  hills,  with  small  groves  of  trees  and 
numerous  little  lakes  in  the  hollows.  The  surface  of  the 
natural  prairie  was  broken  in  places  by  great  wheat  fields, 
and  when  we  were  there  the  grain  was  gathered  in  sheaves 
and  stacks  among  the  stubble.  At  night-time  we  either 
put  up  at  the  house  of  some  settler,  or,  if  there  were  none 
round,  camped  out. 

One  night  we  had  gone  into  camp  among  the  dense 
timber  fringing  a  small  river,  which  wound  through  the 


54  Waterfowl. 

prairie  in  a  deep  narrow  bed  with  steep  banks.  Until 
people  have  actually  camped  out  themselves  it  is  difficult 
for  them  to  realize  how  much  work  there  is  in  making  or 
breaking  camp.  But  it  is  very  quickly  done  if  every  man 
has  his  duties  assigned  to  him  and  starts  about  doing  them 
at  once.  In  choosing  camp  there  are  three  essentials  to 
be  looked  to — wood,  water,  and  grass.  The  last  is  found 
everywhere  in  the  eastern  prairie  land,  where  we  were  on 
our  duck-shooting  trip,  but  in  many  places  on  the  great 
dry  plains  farther  west,  it  is  either  very  scanty  or  altogether 
lacking ;  and  I  have  at  times  been  forced  to  travel  half 
a  score  miles  farther  than  I  wished  to  get  feed  for  the 
horses.  Water,  again,  is  a  commodity  not  by  any  means 
to  be  found  everywhere  on  the  plains.  If  the  country  is 
known  and  the  journeys  timed  aright,  water  can  easily  be 
had,  at  least  at  the  night  camps,  for  on  a  pinch  a  wagon 
can  be  pushed  along  thirty  miles  or  so  at  a  stretch,  giving 
the  tough  ponies  merely  a  couple  of  hours'  rest  and  feed 
at  mid-day ;  but  in  going  through  an  unknown  country  it 
has  been  my  misfortune  on  more  than  one  occasion  to 
make  a  dry  camp — that  is,  one  without  any  water  either 
for  men  or  horses,  and  such  camps  are  most  uncomfort- 
able. The  thirst  seems  to  be  most  annoying  just  after 
sundown  ;  after  one  has  gotten  to  sleep  and  the  air  has 
become  cool,  he  is  not  troubled  much  by  it  again  until 
within  two  or  three  hours  of  noon  next  day,  when  the 
chances  are  that  he  will  have  reached  water,  for  of  course 
by  that  time  he  will  have  made  a  desperate  push  to  get  to 
it-.  When  found,  it  is  more  than  likely  to  be  bad,  being 
either  from  a  bitter  alkaline  pool,  or  from  a  hole  in  a  creek, 


Waterfowl.  55 

so  muddy  that  it  can  only  be  called  liquid  by  courtesy. 
On  the  great  plains  wood  is  even  scarcer,  and  at  least  half 
the  time  the  only  material  from  which  to  make  a  fire  will  be 
buffalo  chips  and  sage  brush  ;  the  long  roots  of  the  latter 
if  dug  up  make  a  very  hot  blaze.  Of  course  when  wood 
is  so  scarce  the  fire  is  a  small  one,  used  merely  to  cook 
by,  and  is  not  kept  up  after  the  cooking  is  over. 

When  a  place  with  grass,  wood,  and  water  is  found, 
the  wagon  is  driven  up  to  the  windward  side  of  where  the 
beds  are  to  be  laid,  and  the  horses  are  unhitched,  watered, 
and  turned  out  to  graze  freely  until  bedtime,  when  a  cer- 
tain number  of  them  are  picketed  or  hobbled.  If  danger 
from  white  or  red  horse-thieves  is  feared,  a  guard  is  kept 
over  them  all  night.  The  ground  is  cleared  of  stones  and 
cacti  where  the  beds  are  to  be  placed,  and  the  blankets 
and  robes  spread.  Generally  we  have  no  tent,  and  the 
wagon-cover  is  spread  over  all  to  keep  out  rain.  Mean- 
while some  one  gathers  the  wood  and  starts  a  fire.  The 
coffee-pot  is  set  among  the  coals,  and  the  frying-pan  with 
bacon  and  whatever  game  has  been  shot  is  placed  on 
top.  Like  Eastern  backwoodsmen,  all  plainsmen  fry  about 
every  thing  they  can  get  hold  of  to  cook ;  for  my  own 
use  I  always  have  a  broiler  carried  along  in  the  wagon. 
One  evening  in  every  three  or  four  is  employed  in  baking 
bread  in  the  Dutch  oven ;  if  there  is  no  time  for  this,  bis- 
cuits are  made  in  the  frying-pan.  The  food  carried  along 
is  very  simple,  consisting  of  bacon,  flour,  coffee,  sugar, 
baking-powder,  and  salt ;  for  all  else  we  depend  on  our 
guns.  On  a  long  trip  every  old  hand  carries  a  water-proof 
canvas  bag,  containing  his  few  spare  clothes  and  neces- 


56  Waterfowl. 

saries ;  on  a  short  trip  a  little  oilskin  one,  for  the  tooth- 
brush, soap,  towel,  etc.,  will  do. 

On  the  evening  in  question  our  camping-ground  was 
an  excellent  one ;  we  had  no  trouble  about  any  thing, 
except  that  we  had  to  bring  water  to  the  horses  in  pails, 
for  the  banks  were  too  steep  and  rotten  to  get  them  down 
to  the  river.  The  beds  were  made  under  a  great  elm,  and 
in  a  short  time  the  fire  was  roaring  in  front  of  them,  while 
the  tender  grouse  were  being  roasted  on  pointed  sticks. 
One  of  the  pleasantest  times  of  camping  out  is  the  period 
immediately  after  supper,  when  the  hunters  lie  in  the 
blaze  of  the  firelight,  talking  over  what  they  have  done 
during  the  day  and  making  their  plans  for  the  morrow. 
And  how  soundly  a  man  who  has  worked  hard  sleeps  in 
the  open,  none  but  he  who  has  tried  it  knows. 

Before  we  had  risen  in  the  morning,  when  the  black- 
ness of  the  night  had  barely  changed  to  gray,  we  were 
roused  by  the  whistle  of  wings,  as  a  flock  of  ducks  flew 
by  along  the  course  of  the  stream,  and  lit  in  the  water 
just  above  the  camp.  Some  kinds  of  ducks  in  lighting 
strike  the  water  with  their  tails  first,  and  skitter  along  the 
surface  for  a  few  feet  before  settling  down.  Lying  in  our 
blankets  we  could  plainly  hear  all  the  motions :  first  of  all, 
the  whistle — whistle  of  their  wings;  then  a  long-drawn 
splash-h-h — plump  ;  and  then  a  low,  conversational  quack- 
ing. It  was  too  dark  to  shoot,  but  we  got  up  and  ready, 
and  strolled  down  along  the  brink  of  the  river  opposite 
where  we  could  hear  them  ;  and  as  soon  as  we  could  see 
we  gave  them  four  barrels  and  picked  up  half  a  dozen 
scaup-ducks.  Breakfast  was  not  yet  ready,  and  we  took 


Waterfowl.  57 

a  turn  out  on  the  prairie  before  coming  back  to  the 
wagon.  In  a  small  pool,  down  in  a  hollow,  were  a  couple 
of  little  dipper  ducks  or  buffle-heads ;  they  rose  slowly 
against  the  wind,  and  offered  such  fair  marks  that  it  was 
out  of  the  question  to  miss  them. 

The  evening  before  we  had  lain  among  the  reeds  near 
a  marshy  lake  and  had  killed  quite  a  number  of  ducks, 
mostly  widgeon  and  teal ;  and  this  morning  we  intended 
to  try  shooting  among  the  cornfields.  By  sunrise  we 
were  a  good  distance  off,  on  a  high  ridge,  across  which  we 
had  noticed  that  the  ducks  flew  in  crossing  from  one  set 
of  lakes  to  another.  The  flight  had  already  begun,  and 
our  arrival  scared  off  the  birds  for  the  time  being ;  but  in 
a  little  while,  after  we  had  hidden  among  the  sheaves, 
stacking  the  straw  up  around  us,  the  ducks  began  to  come 
back,  either  flying  over  in  their  passage  from  the  water,  or 
else  intending  to  light  and  feed.  They  were  for  the  most 
part  mallards,  which  are  the  commonest  of  the  Western 
ducks,  and  the  only  species  customarily  killed  in  this 
kind  of  shooting.  They  are  especially  fond  of  the  corn, 
of  which  there  was  a  small  patch  in  the  grain  field.  To 
this  flocks  came  again  and  again,  and  fast  though  they 
flew  we  got  many  before  they  left  the  place,  scared  by  the 
shooting.  Those  that  were  merely  passing  from  one 
point  to  another  flew  low,  and  among  them  we  shot  a 
couple  of  gadwall,  and  also  knocked  over  a  red-head  from 
a  little  bunch  that  went  by,  their  squat,  chunky  forms 
giving  them  a  very  different  look  from  the  longer,  lighter- 
built  mallard.  The  mallards  that  came  to  feed  flew  high 
in  the  air,  wheeling  round  in  gradually  lowering  circles 


58  Waterfowl. 

when  they  had  reached  the  spot  where  they  intended  to 
light.  In  shooting  in  the  grain  fields  there  is  usually 
plenty  of  time  to  aim,  a  snap  shot  being  from  the  nature 
of  the  sport  exceptional.  Care  must  be  taken  to  lie  quiet 
until  the  ducks  are  near  enough  ;  shots  are  most  often  lost 
through  shooting  too  soon.  Heavy  guns  with  heavy 
loads  are  necessary,  for  the  ducks  are  generally  killed  at 
long  range ;  and  both  from  this  circumstance  as  well  as 
from  the  rapidity  of  their  flight,  it  is  imperative  to  hold 
well  ahead  of  the  bird  fired  at.  It  has  one  advantage 
over  shooting  in  a  marsh,  and  that  is  that  a  wounded  bird 
which  drops  is  of  course  hardly  ever  lost.  Corn-fed 
mallards  are  most  delicious  eating ;  they  rank  on  a  par 
with  teal  and  red-head,  and  second  only  to  the  canvas- 
back — a  bird,  by  the  way,  of  which  I  have  never  killed 
but  one  or  two  individuals  in  the  West. 

In  going  out  of  this  field  we  got  a  shot  at  a  gang  of 
wild  geese.  We  saw  them  a  long  way  off,  coming 
straight  toward  us  in  a  head  and  tail  line.  Down  we 
dropped,  flat  on  our  faces,  remaining  perfectly  still  without 
even  looking  up  (for  wild  geese  are  quick  to  catch  the 
slightest  motion)  until  the  sound  of  the  heavy  wing 
strokes  and  the  honking  seemed  directly  overhead.  Then 
we  rose  on  our  knees  and  fired  all  four  barrels,  into  which 
we  had  slipped  buckshot  cartridges.  They  were  away  up 
in  the  air,  much  beyond  an  ordinary  gunshot ;  and  we 
looked  regretfully  after  them  as  they  flew  off.  Pretty 
soon  one  lagged  a  little  behind ;  his  wings  beat  slower ; 
suddenly  his  long  neck  dropped,  and  he  came  down  like  a 
stone,  one  of  the  buckshot  having  gone  clean  through  his 
breast 


Waterfowl.  59 

We  had  a  long  distance  to  make  that  day,  and  after 
leaving  the  grain  fields  travelled  pretty  steadily,  only  get- 
ting out  of  the  wagon  once  or  twice  after  prairie  chickens. 
At  lunch  time  we  halted  near  a  group  of  small  ponds  and 
reedy  sloughs.  In  these  were  quite  a  number  of  teal  and 
wood-duck,  which  were  lying  singly,  in  pairs,  or  small 
bunches,  on  the  edges  of  the  reeds,  or  where  there  were 
thick  clusters  of  lily  pads ;  and  we  had  half  an  hour's 
good  sport  in  "jumping"  these  little  ducks,  moving  cau- 
tiously along  the  margin  of  the  reeds,  keeping  as  much  as 
possible  concealed  from  view,  and  shooting  four  teal  and 
a  wood-duck,  as,  frightened  at  our  near  approach,  they 
sprang  into  the  air  and  made  off.  Late  in  the  evening, 
while  we  were  passing  over  a  narrow  neck  of  land  that 
divided  two  small  lakes,  with  reedy  shores,  from  each 
other,  a  large  flock  of  the  usually  shy  pintail  duck  passed 
over  us  at  close  range,  and  we  killed  two  from  the  wagon, 
making  in  all  a  bag  of  twenty-one  and  a  half  couple  of 
water-fowl  during  the  day,  two  thirds  falling  to  my  broth- 
er's gun.  Of  course  this  is  a  very  small  bag  indeed  com- 
pared to  those  made  in  the  Chesapeake,  or  in  Wisconsin 
and  the  Mississippi  valley ;  but  the  day  was  so  perfect, 
and  there  were  so  many  varieties  of  shooting,  that  I  ques- 
tion if  any  bag,  no  matter  how  large,  ever  gave  much 
more  pleasure  to  the  successful  sportsman  than  did  our 
forty-three  ducks  to  us. 

Though  ducks  fly  so  fast,  and  need  such  good  shooting 
to  kill  them,  yet  their  rate  of  speed,  as  compared  to  that 
of  other  birds,  is  not  so  great  as  is  commonly  supposed. 
Hawks,  for  instance,  are  faster.  Once,  on  the  prairie,  I 


60  Waterfowl. 

saw  a  mallard  singled  out  of  a  flock,  fairly  overtaken,  and 
struck  down,  by  a  large,  light-colored  hawk,  which  I  sup- 
posed to  be  a  lanner,  or  at  any  rate  one  of  the  long- 
winged  falcons ;  and  I  saw  a  duck  hawk,  on  the  coast  of 
Long  Island,  perform  a  similar  feat  with  the  swift-flying 
long-tailed  duck — the  old  squaw,  or  sou'-sou'-southerly, 
of  the  baymen.  A  more  curious  instance  was  related  to 
me  by  a  friend.  He  was  out  along  a  river,  shooting  ducks 
as  they  flew  by  him,  and  had  noticed  a  bald  eagle  perched 
on  the  top  of  a  dead  tree  some  distance  from  him.  While 
looking  at  it  a  little  bunch  of  teal  flew  swiftly  by,  and  to 
his  astonishment  the  eagle  made  after  them.  The  little 
ducks  went  along  like  bullets,  their  wings  working  so  fast 
that  they  whistled ;  flop,  flop  came  the  great  eagle  after 
them,  with  labored-looking  flight ;  and  yet  he  actually 
gained  so  rapidly  on  his  seemingly  fleeter  quarry  that  he 
was  almost  up  to  them  when  opposite  my  friend.  Then 
the  five  teal  went  down  headlong  into  the  water,  diving 
like  so  many  shot.  The  eagle  kept  hovering  over  the 
spot,  thrusting  with  its  claws  at  each  little  duck  as  it  came 
up  ;  but  he  was  unsuccessful,  all  of  the  teal  eventually 
getting  into  the  reeds,  where  they  were  safe.  In  the  East, 
by  the  way,  I  have  seen  the  same  trick  of  hovering  over 
the  water  where  a  flock  of  ducks  had  disappeared,  per- 
formed by  a  Cooper's  hawk.  He  had  stooped  at  some 
nearly  grown  flappers  of  the  black  duck ;  they  all  went 
under  water,  and  he  remained  just  above,  grasping  at  any 
one  that  appeared,  and  forcing  them  to  go  under  without 
getting  a  chance  to  breathe.  Soon  he  had  singled  out 
one,  which  kept  down  a  shorter  and  shorter  time  at  each 


IV at  erf  owl.  6l 

dive ;  it  soon  grew  exhausted,  was  a  little  too  slow  in 
taking  a  dive,  and  was  grasped  in  the  claws  of  its  foe. 

In  duck-shooting  where  there  are  reeds,  grass  and 
water-lilies  the  cripples  should  be  killed  at  once,  even  at  the 
cost  of  burning  some  additional  powder,  many  kinds  of 
waterfowl  being  very  expert  at  diving.  Others,  as  wid- 
geon, shoveller,  and  teal,  do  not  dive,  merely  trying  to  hide 
in  some  hole  in  the  bank ;  and  these  are  generally  birds 
that  fall  to  the  touch  of  shot  much  more  easily  than  is  the 
case  with  their  tougher  relatives. 

There  are  two  or  three  species  of  birds  tolerably  com- 
mon over  the  plains  which  we  do  not  often  regularly  hunt, 
but  which  are  occasionally  shot  for  the  table.  These  are 
the  curlew,  the  upland  or  grass  plover,  and  the  golden 
plover.  All  three  kinds  belong  to  the  family  of  what  are 
called  wading  birds  ;  but  with  us  it  is  rare  to  see  any  one 
of  them  near  water. 

The  curlew  is  the  most  conspicuous  ;  indeed  its  loud, 
incessant  clamor,  its  erect  carriage,  and  the  intense 
curiosity  which  possesses  it,  and  which  makes  it  come 
up  to  circle  around  any  strange  object,  all  combine  to 
make  it  in  springtime  one  of  the  most  conspicuous 
features  of  plains  life.  At  that  time  curlews  are  seen 
in  pairs  or  small  parties,  keeping  to  the  prairies  and 
grassy  uplands.  They  are  never  silent,  and  their  dis- 
cordant noise  can  be  heard  half  a  mile  off.  Whenever 
they  discover  a  wagon  or  a  man  on  horseback,  they  fly 
toward  him,  though  usually  taking  good  care  to  keep  out 
of  gunshot.  They  then  fly  over  and  round  the  object, 
calling  all  the  time,  and  sometimes  going  off  to.  one 


62  Waterfowl. 

side,  where  they  will  light  and  run  rapidly  through  the 
grass ;  and  in  this  manner  they  will  sometimes  accompany 
a  hunter  or  traveller  for  miles,  scaring  off  all  game.  By 
the  end  of  July  or  August  they  have  reared  their  young; 
they  then  go  in  small  flocks,  are  comparatively  silent, 
and  are  very  good  eating.  I  have  never  made  a  prac- 
tice of  shooting  them,  though  I  have  fired  at  them  some- 
times with  the  rifle,  and  in  this  way  have  now  and  then 
killed  one ;  twice  I  have  hit  them  on  the  wing  with 
this  weapon,  while  they  were  soaring  slowly  about  above 
me,  occasionally  passing  pretty  near. 

The  grass  plover  is  found  in  the  same  places  as 
the  curlew,  and  like  it  breeds  with  us.  Its  flesh  is  just  as 
good,  and  it  has  somewhat  the  same  habits  ;  but  is  less 
wary,  noisy,  and  inquisitive.  The  golden  plover  is  only 
found  during  the  migrations,  when  large  flocks  may  some- 
times be  seen.  They  are  delicious  eating  ;  the  only  ones 
I  have  ever  shot  have  been  killed  with  the  little  ranch 
gun,  when  riding  round  the  ranch,  or  travelling  from  one 
point  to  another. 

Like  the  grouse,  and  other  ground-nesting  birds, 
the  curlews  and  plovers  during  breeding-time  have  for 
their  chief  foes  the  coyotes,  badgers,  skunks,  and  other 
flesh-eating  prowlers  ;  and  as  all  these  are  greatly  thinned 
off  by  the  cattle-men,  with  their  fire-arms  and  their  infi- 
nitely more  deadly  poison,  the  partial  and  light  settlement 
of  the  country  that  accompanies  the  cattle  industry  has 
had  the  effect  of  making  all  these  birds  more  plentiful 
than  before  ;  and  most  unlike  the  large  game,  game  birds 
bid  fair  to  increase  in  numbers  during  the  next  few  years. 


Waterfowl.  63 

The  skunks  are  a  nuisance  in  more  ways  than  one. 
They  are  stunid,  familiar  beasts,  with  a  great  predi- 
lection for  visiting  camps,  and  the  shacks  or  huts  of 
the  settlers,  to  pick  up  any  scraps  of  meat  that  may 
be  lying  round.  I  have  time  and  again  known  a 
skunk  to  actually  spend  several  hours  of  the  night  in 
perseveringly  digging  a  hole  underneath  the  logs  of 
a  hut,  so  as  to  get  inside  among  the  inmates.  The 
animal  then  hunts  about  among  them,  and  of  course 
no  one  will  willingly  molest  it ;  and  it  has  often  been 
known  to  deliberately  settle  down  upon  and  begin  to  eat 
one  of  the  sleepers.  The  strange  and  terrible  thing  about 
these  attacks  is  that  in  certain  districts  and  at  certain 
times  the  bite  of  the  skunk  is  surely  fatal,  producing 
hydrophobia ;  and  many  cowmen,  soldiers,  and  hunters 
have  annually  died  from  this  cause.  There  is  no  wild 
beast  in  the  West,  no  matter  what  its  size  and  ferocity, 
so  dreaded  by  old  plainsmen  as  this  seemingly  harmless 
little  beast. 

I  remember  one  rather  ludicrous  incident  connected 
with  a  skunk.  A  number  of  us,  among  whom  was  a  huge, 
happy-go-lucky  Scotchman,  who  went  by  the  name  of 
Sandy,  were  sleeping  in  a  hut,  when  a  skunk  burrowed 
under  the  logs  and  got  in.  Hearing  it  moving  about 
among  the  tin  pans  Sandy  struck  a  light,  was  much  taken 
by  the  familiarity  of  the  pretty  black  and  white  little 
animal,  and,  as  it  seemed  in  his  eyes  a  curiosity,  took 
a  shot  at  it  with  his  revolver.  He  missed ;  the  skunk, 
for  a  wonder,  retired  promptly  without  taking  any  notice 
of  the  attack ;  and  the  rest  of  the  alarmed  sleepers,  when 


64  Waterfowl. 

informed  of  the  cause  of  the  shot,  cursed  the  Scotchman 
up  hill  and  down  dale  for  having  so  ne?rlv  brought  dire 
confusion  on  them  all.  The  latter  took  the  abuse  very 
philosophically,  merely  remarking  :  "  I  'm  glad  a  did  na 
kill  him  mysel' ;  he  seemed  such  a  dacent  wee  beastie." 
The  sequel  proved  that  neither  the  skunk  nor  Sandy  had 
learned  any  wisdom  by  the  encounter,  for  half  an  hour 
later  the  "  dacent  wee  beastie  "  came  back,  and  this  time 
Sandy  fired  at  him  with  fatal  effect.  Of  course  the  re- 
sult was  a  frantic  rush  of  all  hands  from  the  hut,  Sandy 
exclaiming  with  late  but  sincere  repentance :  "  A  did  na 
ken  't  wad  cause  such  a  tragadee." 

Besides  curlew  and  plover  there  are  at  times,  especially 
during  the  migrations,  a  number  of  species  of  other  waders 
to  be  found  along  the  streams  and  pools  in  the  cattle 
region.  Yellowlegs,  yelper,  willet,  marlin,  dough  bird, 
stilt,  and  avocet  are  often  common,  but  they  do  not  begin 
to  be  as  plentiful  as  they  are  in  the  more  fertile  lands  to 
the  eastward,  and  the  ranchmen  never  shoot  at  them  or 
follow  them  as  game  birds. 

A  more  curious  bird  than  any  of  these  is  the  plains 
plover,  which  avoids  the  water  and  seems  to  prefer  the 
barren  plateaus  and  almost  desert-like  reaches  of  sage-brush 
and  alkali.  Plains  plovers  are  pretty  birds,  and  not  at  all 
shy.  In  fall  they  are  fat  and  good  eating,  but  they  are 
not  plentiful  enough  to  be  worth  going  after.  Sometimes 
they  are  to  be  seen  in  the  most  seemingly  unlikely  places 
for  a  wader  to  be.  Last  spring  one  pair  nested  in  a  bro- 
ken piece  of  Bad  Lands  near  my  ranch,  where  the  ground 
is  riven  and  twisted  into  abrupt,  steep  crests  and  deep 


Waterfowl.  65 

canyons.  The  soil  is  seemingly  wholly  unfitted  to  sup- 
port bird  life,  as  it  is  almost  bare  of  vegetation,  being 
covered  with  fossil  plants,  shells,  fishes,  etc. — all  of  which 
objects,  by  the  way,  the  frontiersman,  who  is  much  given 
to  broad  generalization,  groups  together  under  the  start- 
ling title  of  "  stone  clams." 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE    GROUSE    OF    THE     NORTHERN    CATTLE 

PLAINS. 


IO  my  mind  there  is  no  com- 
parison between  sport  with 
the  rifle  and  sport  with  the 
shot-gun.  The  rifle  is  the 
freeman's  weapon.  The  man 
who  uses  it  well  in  the  chase 
shows  that  he  can  at  need  use  it  also 
in  war  with  human  foes.  I  would  no 
more  compare  the  feat  of  one  who  bags  his  score  of  ducks 
or  quail  with  that  of  him  who  fairly  hunts  down  and  slays 
a  buck  or  bear,  than  I  would  compare  the  skill  necessary 
to  drive  a  buggy  with  that  required  to  ride  a  horse  across 
country ;  or  the  dexterity  acquired  in  handling  a  bill- 
iard cue  with  that  shown  by  a  skilful  boxer  or  oarsman. 
The  difference  is  not  one  of  degree  ;  it  is  one  of  kind. 

I  am  far  from  decrying  the  shot-gun.  It  is  always 
pleasant  as  a  change  from  the  rifle,  and  in  the  Eastern 
States  it  is  almost  the  only  fire-arm  which  we  now  have  a 

66 


Grouse.  6~ 

chance  to  use.  But  out  in  the  cattle  country  it  is  the  rifle 
that  is  always  carried  by  the  ranchman  who  cares  for  sport. 
Large  game  is  still  that  which  is  sought  after,  and  most  of 
the  birds  killed  are  either  simply  slaughtered  for  the  pot, 
or  else  shot  for  the  sake  of  variety,  while  really  after  deer 
or  antelope  ;  though  every  now  and  then  I  have  taken  a 
day  with  the  shot-gun  after  nothing  else  but  prairie  fowl. 

The  sharp-tailed  prairie  fowl  is  much  the  most  plenti- 
ful of  the  feathered  game  to  be  found  on  the  northern 
cattle  plains,  where  it  replaces  the  common  prairie  chicken 
so  abundant  on  the  prairies  to  the  east  and  southeast  of 
the  range  of  our  birds.  In  habits  it  is  much  like  the  lat- 
ter, being  one  of  the  grouse  which  keep  to  the  open,  tree- 
less tracts,  though  it  is  far  less  averse  to  timber  than  is  its 
nearest  relative,  and  often  is  found  among  the  cotton-wood 
trees  and  thick  brush  which  fringe  the  streams.  I  have 
never  noticed  that  its  habits  when  pursued  differ  much 
from  those  of  the  common  prairie  chicken,  though  it  is 
perhaps  a  little  more  shy,  and  is  certainly  much  more  apt 
to  light  on  a  tree  like  the  ruffed  grouse.  It  is,  however, 
essentially  a  bird  of  the  wilds,  and  it  is  a  curious  fact  that 
it  seems  to  retreat  before  civilization,  continually  moving 
westward  as  the  wheat  fields  advance,  while  its  place  is 
taken  by  the  common  form,  which  seems  to  keep  pace  with 
the  settlement  of  the  country.  Like  the  latter  bird,  and 
unlike  the  ruffed  grouse  and  blue  grouse,  which  have  white 
meat,  its  flesh  is  dark,  and  it  is  very  good  eating  from 
about  the  middle  of  August  to  the  middle  of  November, 
after  which  it  is  a  little  tough. 

As  already  said,  the  ranchmen  do  not  often  make  a 


68  Grouse. 

regular  hunt  after  these  grouse.  This  is  partly  because 
most  of  them  look  with  something  akin  to  contempt  upon 
any  fire-arm  but  the  rifle  or  revolver,  and  partly  because  it 
is  next  to  impossible  to  keep  hunting-dogs  very  long  on 
the  plains.  The  only  way  to  check  in  any  degree  the 
ravages  of  the  wolves  is  by  the  most  liberal  use  of  strych- 
nine, and  the  offal  of  any  game  killed  by  a  cattle-man  is 
pretty  sure  to  be  poisoned  before  being  left,  while  the 
"  wolfer,"  or  professional  wolf-killer  strews  his  bait  every- 
where. It  thus  comes  about  that  any  dog  who  is  in  the 
habit  of  going  any  distance  from  the  house  is  almost  sure 
to  run  across  and  eat  some  of  the  poisoned  meat,  the  effect 
of  which  is  certain  death.  The  only  time  I  have  ever  shot 
sharp-tailed  prairie  fowl  over  dogs  was  during  a  trip  to 
the  eastward  with  my  brother,  which  will  be  described 
further  on.  Out  on  the  plains  I  have  occasionally  taken 
a  morning  with  the  shot-gun  after  them,  but  more  often 
have  either  simply  butchered  them  for  the  pot,  when  out 
of  meat,  or  else  have  killed  a  few  with  the  rifle  when  I 
happened  to  come  across  them  while  after  deer  or  ante- 
lope. 

Occasions  frequently  arise,  in  living  a  more  or  less 
wild  life,  when  a  man  has  to  show  his  skill  in  shifting  for 
himself ;  when,  for  instance,  he  has  to  go  out  and  make  a 
foray  upon  the  grouse,  neither  for  sport,  nor  yet  for  a  change 
of  diet,  but  actually  for  food.  Under  such  circumstances 
he  of  course  pays  no  regard  to  the  rules  of  sport  which 
would  govern  his  conduct  on  other  occasions.  If  a  man's 
dinner  for  several  consecutive  days  depends  upon  a  single 
shot,  he  is  a  fool  if  he  does  not  take  every  advantage  he 


Grouse.  69 

can.  I  remember,  for  instance,  one  time  when  we  were 
travelling  along  the  valley  of  the  Powder  River,  and  got 
entirely  out  of  fresh  meat,  owing  to  my  making  a  succes- 
sion of  ludicrously  bad  misses  at  deer.  Having  had  my 
faith  in  my  capacity  to  kill  any  thing  whatever  with  the 
rifle  a  good  deal  shaken,  I  started  off  one  morning  on 
horseback  with  the  shot-gun.  Until  nearly  noon  I  saw 
nothing  ;  then,  while  riding  through  a  barren-looking  bot- 
tom, I  happened  to  spy  some  prairie  fowl  squatting  close 
to  the  ground  underneath  a  sage-brush.  It  was  some 
minutes  before  I  could  make  out  what  they  were,  they 
kept  so  low  and  so  quiet,  and  their  color  harmonized  so 
well  with  their  surroundings.  Finally  I  was  convinced 
that  they  were  grouse,  and  rode  my  horse  slowly  by  them. 
When  opposite,  I  reined  him  in  and  fired,  killing  the 
whole  bunch  of  five  birds.  Another  time  at  the  ranch  our 
supply  of  fresh  meat  gave  out  entirely,  and  I  sallied  forth 
with  the  ranch  gun,  intent,  not  on  sport,  but  on  slaughter. 
It  was  late  fall,  and  as  I  rode  along  in  the  dawn  (for  the 
sun  was  not  up)  a  small  pack  of  prairie  fowl  passed  over 
my  head  and  lit  on  a  dead  tree  that  stood  out  some  little 
distance  from  a  grove  of  cotton-woods.  They  paid  little  at- 
tention to  me,  but  they  are  so  shy  at  that  season  that  I  did 
not  dare  to  try  to  approach  them  on  foot,  but  let  the  horse 
jog  on  at  the  regular  cow-pony  gait — a  kind  of  single-foot 
pace,  between  a  walk  and  a  trot, — and  as  I  passed  by  fired 
into  the  tree  and  killed  four  birds.  Now,  of  course  I 
would  not  have  dreamed  of  taking  either  of  these  shots  had 
I  been  out  purely  for  sport,  and  neither  needed  any  more 
skill  than  would  be  shown  in  killing  hens  in  a  barn-yard ; 


7°  Grouse. 

but,  after  all,  when  one  is  hunting  for  one's  dinner  he  takes 
an  interest  in  his  success  which  he  would  otherwise  lack, 
and  on  both  occasions  I  felt  a  most  unsportsman-like  glee 
when  I  found  how  many  I  had  potted. 

The  habits  of  this  prairie  fowl  vary  greatly  at  differ- 
ent seasons  of  the  year.  It  is  found  pretty  much  every- 
where within  moderate  distance  of  water,  for  it  does  not 
frequent  the  perfectly  dry  wastes  where  we  find  the  great 
sage  cock.  But  it  is  equally  at  home  on  the  level  prairie 
and  among  the  steep  hills  of  the  Bad  Lands.  When  on 
the  ground  it  has  rather  a  comical  look,  for  it  stands  very 
high  on  its  legs,  carries  its  sharp  little  tail  cocked  up  like 
a  wren's,  and  when  startled  stretches  its  neck  out  straight ; 
altogether  it  gives  one  the  impression  of  being  a  very  an- 
gular bird.  Of  course  it  crouches,  and  moves  about  when 
feeding,  like  any  other  grouse. 

One  of  the  strangest,  and  to  me  one  of  the  most  attrac- 
tive, sounds  of  the  prairie  is  the  hollow  booming  made  by 
the  cocks  in  spring.  Before  the  snow  has  left  the  ground 
they  begin,  and  at  the  break  of  morning  their  deep  reso- 
nant calls  sound  from  far  and  near,  for  in  still  weather  they 
can  be  heard  at  an  immense  distance.  I  hardly  know  how 
to  describe  the  call ;  indeed  it  cannot  be  described  in 
words.  It  has  a  hollow,  vibrant  sound  like  that  of  some 
wind  instrument,  and  would  hardly  be  recognized  as  a  bird 
note  at  all.  I  have  heard  it  at  evening,  but  more  often 
shortly  after  dawn  ;  and  I  have  often  stopped  and  listened 
to  it  for  many  minutes,  for  it  is  as  strange  and  weird  a 
form  of  natural  music  as  any  I  know.  At  the  time  of  the 
year  when  they  utter  these  notes  the  cocks  gather  together 


Grouse.  7i 

in  certain  places  and  hold  dancing  rings,  posturing  and 
strutting  about  as  they  face  and  pass  each  other. 

The  nest  is  generally  placed  in  a  tuft  of  grass  or  under  a 
sage-brush  in  the  open,  but  occasionally  in  the  brush  wood 
near  a  stream.  The  chicks  are  pretty  little  balls  of  mot- 
tled brown  and  yellow  down.  The  mother  takes  great 
care  of  them,  leading  them  generally  into  some  patch  of 
brushwood,  but  often  keeping  them  out  in  the  deep  grass. 
Frequently  when  out  among  the  cattle  I  have  ridden  my 
horse  almost  over  a  hen  with  a  brood  of  chicks.  The 
little  chicks  first  attempt  to  run  off  in  single  file ;  if  dis- 
covered they  scatter  and  squat  down  under  clods  of  earth 
or  tufts  of  grass.  Holding  one  in  my  hand  near  my  pocket 
it  scuttled  into  it  like  a  flash.  The  mother,  when  she  sees 
her  brood  discovered,  tumbles  about  through  the  grass  as 
if  wounded,  in  the  effort  to  decoy  the  foe  after  her.  If 
she  is  successful  in  this,  she  takes  a  series  of  short  flights, 
keeping  just  out  of  reach  of  her  pursuer,  and  when  the 
latter  has  been  lured  far  enough  from  the  chicks  the  hen 
rises  and  flies  off  at  a  humming  speed. 

By  the  middle  of  August  the  young  are  well  enough 
grown  to  shoot,  and  are  then  most  delicious  eating.  Dif- 
ferent coveys  at  this  time  vary  greatly  in  their  behavior 
if  surprised  feeding  in  the  open.  Sometimes  they  will  not 
permit  of  a  very  close  approach,  and  will  fly  off  after  one 
or  two  have  been  shot ;  while  again  they  will  show  per- 
fect indifference  to  the  approach  of  man,  and  will  allow 
the  latter  to  knock  off  the  heads  of  five  or  six  with  his 
rifle  before  the  rest  take  the  alarm  and  fly  off.  They  now 
go  more  or  less  all  over  the  open  ground,  but  are  especial- 


7*  Grouse. 

ly  fond  of  frequenting  the  long  grass  in  the  bottoms  of  the 
coulies  and  ravines  and  the  dense  brush  along  the  edges 
of  the  creeks  and  in  the  valleys  ;  there  they  will  invariably 
be  found  at  mid-day,  and  will  lie  till  they  are  almost  trod- 
den on  before  rising. 

Late  in  the  month  of  August  one  year  we  had  been 
close-herding  a  small  bunch  of  young  cattle  on  a  bottom 
about  a  mile  square,  walled  in  by  bluffs,  and  with,  as  an 
inlet,  a  long,  dry  creek  running  back  many  miles  into  the 
Bad  Lands,  where  it  branched  out  into  innumerable 
smaller  creeks  and  coulies.  We  wished  to  get  the  cattle 
accustomed  to  the  locality,  for  animals  are  more  apt  to 
stray  when  first  brought  on  new  ground  than  at  any  later 
period;  so  each  night  we  "bedded"  them  on  the  level 
bottom — that  is,  gathering  them  together  on  the  plain,  one 
of  us  would  ride  slowly  and  quietly  round  and  round  the 
herd,  heading  off  and  turning  back  into  it  all  beasts  that 
tried  to  stray  off,  but  carefully  avoiding  disturbing  them  or 
making  any  unusual  noise  ;  and  by  degrees  they  would  all 
lie  down,  close  together.  This  "  bedding  down  "  is  always 
done  when  travelling  with  a  large  herd,  when,  of  course,  it 
needs  several  cowboys  to  do  it ;  and  in  such  cases  some 
of  the  cowboys  keep  guard  all  the  time,  walking  their 
horses  round  the  herd,  and  singing  and  calling  to  the 
cattle  all  night  long.  The  cattle  seem  to  like  to  hear  the 
human  voice,  and  it  tends  to  keep  them  quiet  and  free 
from  panic.  Often  when  camping  near  some  great  cattle 
outfit  I  have  lain  awake  at  night  for  an  hour  or  over 
listening  to  the  wild,  not  unmusical,  calls  of  the  cowboys 
as  they  rode  round  the  half-slumbering  steers.  In  the 


Grouse.  73 

clear,  still  night  air  the  calls  can  be  heard  for  a  mile  and 
more,  and  I  like  to  listen  to  them  as  they  come  through 
the  darkness,  half  mellowed  by  the  distance,  for  they  are 
one  of  the  characteristic  sounds  of  plains  life.  Texan  steers 
often  give  considerable  trouble  before  they  can  be  bedded, 
and  are  prone  to  stampede,  especially  in  a  thunder-storm. 
But  with  the  little  herd  we  were  at  this  time  guarding 
there  was  no  difficulty  whatever,  the  animals  being  grade 
short-horns  of  Eastern  origin.  After  seeing  them  quiet  we 
would  leave  them  for  the  night,  again  riding  out  early  in 
the  morning. 

On  every  occasion  when  we  thus  rode  out  in  the 
morning  we  saw  great  numbers  of  prairie  fowl  feeding  in 
the  open  plain  in  small  flocks,  each  evidently  composed  of 
a  hen  and  her  grown  brood.  They  would  often  be  right 
round  the  cattle,  and  went  indifferently  among  the  sage- 
brush or  out  on  the  short  prairie  grass.  They  flew  into 
the  bottom  from  some  distance  off  about  daybreak,  fed 
for  a  couple  of  hours,  and  soon  after  sunrise  again  took 
wing  and  flew  up  along  the  course  of  the  dry  creek  men- 
tioned above.  While  on  the  bottom  they  were  generally 
quite  shy,  not  permitting  any  thing  like  a  close  approach 
before  taking  wing.  Their  habit  of  crowing  or  clucking 
while  flying  off  is  very  noticeable  ;  it  is,  by  the  way,  a 
most  strongly  characteristic  trait  of  this  species.  I  have 
been  especially  struck  by  it  when  shooting  in  Minnesota, 
where  both  the  sharp-tail  and  the  common  prairie  fowl  are 
found  ;  the  contrast  between  the  noisiness  of  one  bird  and 
the  quiet  of  the  other  was  very  marked.  If  one  of  us  ap- 
proached a  covey  on  horseback  the  birds  would,  if  they 


74  Grouse. 

thought  they  were  unobserved,  squat  down  close  to  the 
ground  ;  more  often  they  would  stand  very  erect,  and 
walk  off.  If  we  came  too  close  to  one  it  would  utter  a 
loud  kuk-kuk-kuk,  and  be  off,  at  every  few  strokes  of  its 
wings  repeating  the  sound — a  kind  of  crowing  cluck. 
This  is  the  note  they  utter  when  alarmed,  or  when  calling 
to  one  another.  When  a  flock  are  together  and  undis- 
turbed they  keep  up  a  sociable  garrulous  cackling. 

Every  morning  by  the  time  the  sun  had  been  up  a 
little  while  the  grouse  had  all  gone  from  the  bottom,  but 
later  in  the  day  while  riding  along  the  creek  among  the 
cattle  we  often  stumbled  upon  little  flocks.  We  fired  at 
them  with  our  revolvers  whenever  we  were  close  enough, 
but  the  amount  we  got  in  this  way  was  very  limited,  and 
as  we  were  rather  stinted  for  fresh  meat,  the  cattle  taking 
up  so  much  of  our  time  as  to  prevent  our  going  after 
deer,  I  made  up  my  mind  to  devote  a  morning  to  hunting 
up  the  creeks  and  coulies  for  grouse,  with  the  shot-gun. 

Accordingly  the  next  morning  I  started,  just  about 
the  time  the  last  of  the  flocks  were  flying  away  from  theif 
feeding-ground  on  the  bottom.  I  trudged  along  on  foot, 
not  wanting  to  be  bothered  by  a  horse.  The.  air  was 
fresh  and  cool,  though  the  cloudless  sky  boded  a  hot 
noon.  As  I  walked  by  the  cattle  they  stopped  grazing 
and  looked  curiously  at  me,  for  they  were  unused  to  seeing 
any  man  not  on  horseback.  But  they  did  not  offer  to 
molest  me ;  Texan  or  even  northern  steers  bred  on  the 
more  remote  ranges  will  often  follow  and  threaten  a  foot- 
man for  miles.  While  passing  among  the  cattle  it  was 
amusing  to  see  the  actions  of  the  little  cow  buntings. 


Grouse.  75 

They  were  very  familiar  little  birds,  lighting  on  the  backs 
of  the  beasts,  and  keeping  fluttering  round  their  heads  as 
they  walked  through  the  grass,  hopping  up  into  the  air  all 
the  time.  At  first  I  could  not  make  out  what  they  were 
doing ;  but  on  watching  them  closely  saw  that  they  were 
catching  the  grasshoppers  and  moths  which  flew  into  the 
air  to  avoid  the  cattle's  hoofs.  They  are  as  tame  with 
horsemen  ;  while  riding  through  a  patch  of  tall  grass  a 
flock  of  buntings  will  often  keep  circling  within  a  couple 
of  yards  of  the  horse's  head,  seizing  the  insects  as  they  fly 
up  before  him. 

The  valley  through  which  the  creek  ran  was  quite 
wide,  bordered  by  low  buttes.  After  a  heavy  rainfall  the 
water  rushes  through  the  at  other  times  dry  bed  in  a  foam- 
ing torrent,  and  it  thus  cuts  it  down  into  a  canyon-like 
shape,  making  it  a  deep,  winding,  narrow  ditch,  with  steep 
sides.  Along  the  edges  of  this  ditch  were  dense  patches, 
often  quite  large,  of  rose-bushes,  bullberry  bushes,  ash, 
and  wild  cherry,  making  almost  impenetrable  thickets, 
generally  not  over  breast  high.  In  the  bottom  of  the 
valley,  along  the  edges  of  the  stream  bed,  the  grass  was 
long  and  coarse,  entirely  different  from  the  short  fine 
bunch  grass  a  little  farther  back,  the  favorite  food  of  the 
cattle. 

Almost  as  soon  as  I  had  entered  the  creek,  in  walking 
through  a  small  patch  of  brush  I  put  up  an  old  cock,  as 
strong  a  flyer  as  the  general  run  of  October  birds.  Off 
he  went,  with  a  whirr,  clucking  and  crowing ;  I  held  the 
little  i6-bore  fully  two  feet  ahead  of  him,  pulled  the  trig- 
ger, and  down  he  came  into  the  bushes.  The  sharp-tails 


76  Grouse. 

fly  strongly  and  steadily,  springing  into  the  air  when  they 
rise,  and  then  going  off  in  a  straight  line,  alternately 
sailing  and  giving  a  succession  of  rapid  wing-beats.  Some- 
times they  will  sail  a  long  distance  with  set  wings  before 
alighting,  and  when  they  are  passing  overhead  with  their 
wings  outstretched  each  of  the  separate  wing  feathers  can 
be  seen,  rigid  and  distinct. 

Picking  up  and  pocketing  my  bird  I  walked  on,  and 
on  turning  round  a  shoulder  of  the  bluffs  saw  a  pair  of 
sharp-tails  sitting  sunning  themselves  on  the  top  of  a  bull- 
berry  bush.  As  soon  as  they  saw  me  they  flew  off  a  short 
distance  and  lit  in  the  bed  of  the  creek.  Rightly  judging 
that  there  were  more  birds  than  those  I  had  seen  I  began 
to  beat  with  great  care  the  patches  of  brush  and  long 
grass  on  both  sides  of  the  creek,  and  soon  was  rewarded  by 
some  very  pretty  shooting.  The  covey  was  a  large  one, 
composed  of  two  or  three  broods  of  young  prairie  fowl, 
and  I  struck  on  the  exact  place,  a  slight  hollow  filled  with 
low  brush  and  tall  grass,  where  they  were  lying.  They 
lay  very  close,  and  my  first  notice  of  their  presence  was 
given  by  one  that  I  almost  trod  on,  which  rose  from  fairly 
between  my  feet.  A  young  grouse  at  this  season  offers  an 
easy  shot,  and  he  was  dropped  without  difficulty.  At  the 
report  two  others  rose  and  I  got  one.  When  I  had  barely 
reloaded  the  rest  began  to  get  up,  singly  or  two  or  three 
at  a  time,  rising  straight  up  to  clear  the  edge  of  the  hollow, 
and  making  beautiful  marks ;  when  the  last  one  had  been 
put  up  I  had  down  seven  birds,  of  which  I  picked  up  six,  not 
being  able  to  find  the  other.  A  little  farther  on  I  put  up 
and  shot  a  single  grouse,  which  fell  into  a  patch  of  briars 


Grouse.  7? 

I  could  not  penetrate.  Then  for  some  time  I  saw  nothing, 
although  beating  carefully  through  every  likely-looking 
place.  One  patch  of  grass,  but  a  few  feet  across,  I  walked 
directly  through  without  rousing  any  thing  ;  happening  to 
look  back  when  I  had  gone  some  fifty  yards,  I  was  sur- 
prised to  see  a  dozen  heads  and  necks  stretched  up,  and 
eying  me  most  inquisitively  ;  their  owners  were  sharp-tails, 
a  covey  of  which  I  had  almost  walked  over  without  their 
making  a  sign.  I  strode  back ;  but  at  my  first  step  they 
all  stood  up  straight,  with  their  absurd  little  tails  held  up 
in  the  air,  and  at  the  next  step  away  they  went,  flying  off 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  and  then  scattering  in  the  brushy  hol- 
lows where  a  coulie  headed  up  into  the  buttes.  (Grouse 
at  this  season  hardly  ever  light  in  a  tree.)  I  marked  them 
down  carefully  and  tramped  all  through  the  place,  yet  I 
only  succeeded  in  putting  up  two,  of  which  I  got  one  and 
missed  the  other  with  both  barrels.  After  that  I  walked 
across  the  heads  of  the  coulies,  but  saw  nothing  except  in 
a  small  swale  of  high  grass,  where  there  was  a  little  covey 
of  five,  of  which  I  got  two  with  a  right  and  left.  It  was 
now  very  hot,  and  I  made  for  a  spring  which  I  knew  ran 
out  of  a  cliff  a  mile  or  two  off.  There  I  stayed  till  long 
after  the  shadows  began  to  lengthen,  when  I  started  home- 
ward. For  some  miles  I  saw  nothing,  but  as  the  evening 
came  on  the  grouse  began  to  stir.  A  small  party  flew 
over  my  head,  and  though  I  missed  them  with  both  bar- 
rels, either  because  I  miscalculated  the  distance  or  for 
some  other  reason,  yet  I  marked  them  down  very  well, 
and  when  I  put  them  up  again  got  two.  Three  times 
afterward  I  came  across  coveys,  either  flying  or  walking 


78  Grouse. 

out  from  the  edges  of  the  brushes,  and  I  got  one  bird  out 
of  each,  reaching  home  just  after  sunset  with  fifteen  sharp- 
tails  strung  over  my  back.  Of  course  working  after  grouse 
on  an  August  day  in  this  manner,  without  a  dog,  is  very 
tiring,  and  no  great  bag  can  be  made  without  a  pointer  or 
setter. 

In  September  the  sharp-tails  begin  to  come  out  from 
the  brushy  coulies  and  creek  bottoms,  and  to  wander  out 
among  the  short  grass  of  the  ravines  and  over  the  open 
prairie.  They  are  at  first  not  very  shy,  and  in  the  early 
part  of  the  month  I  have  once  or  twice  had  good  sport 
with  them.  Once  I  took  a  companion  in  the  buck-board, 
and  drove  during  the  course  of  the  day  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  miles  along  the  edge  of  the  rolling  prairie,  crossing 
the  creeks,  and  skirting  the  wooded  basins  where  the  Bad 
Lands  began.  We  came  across  quite  a  number  of  coveys, 
which  in  almost  all  cases  waited  for  us  to  come  up,  and  as 
the  birds  did  not  rise  all  together,  I  got  three  or  four  shots 
at  each  covey,  and  came  home  with  ten  and  a  half  couple. 

A  little  later  the  birds  become  shy  and  acquire  their 
full  strength  of  wing.  They  now  wander  far  out  on  the 
prairie,  and  hardly  ever  make  any  effort  to  squat  down 
and  conceal  themselves  in  the  marvellous  way  which  they 
have  earlier  in  the  season,  but,  on  the  contrary,  trust  to 
their  vigilance  and  their  powers  of  flight  for  their  safety. 
On  bare  ground  it  is  now  impossible  to  get  anywhere 
near  them,  but  if  they  are  among  sage-brush  or  in  other 
low  cover  they  afford  fine  sport  to  a  good  shot,  with  a 
close-shooting,  strong-hitting  gun.  I  remember  one  even- 
ing, while  coming  over  with  a  wagon  team  from  the  head 


Grouse.  79 

waters  of  O'Fallon  Creek,  across  the  Big  Sandy,  when  it 
became  a  matter  of  a  good  deal  of  interest  for  us  to  kill 
something,  as  otherwise  we  would  have  had  very  little  to 
eat.  We  had  camped  near  a  succession  of  small  pools, 
containing  one  or  two  teal,  which  I  shot ;  but  a  teal  is  a 
small  bird  when  placed  before  three  hungry  men.  Sharp- 
tails,  however,  were  quite  numerous,  having  come  in  from 
round  about,  as  evening  came  on,  to  drink.  They  were  in 
superb  condition,  stout  and  heavy,  with  clean,  bright 
plumage,  but  very  shy  ;  and  they  rose  so  far  off  and  flew 
so  strongly  and  swiftly  that  a  good  many  cartridges  were 
spent  before  four  of  the  plump,  white-bellied  birds  were 
brought  back  to  the  wagon  in  my  pockets. 

Later  than  this  they  sometimes  unite  into  great  packs, 
containing  hundreds  of  individuals,  and  then  show  a  strong 
preference  for  the  timbered  ravines  and  the  dense  woods 
and  underbrush  of  the  river  bottoms,  the  upper  branches  of 
the  trees  being  their  favorite  resting-places.  On  very  cold 
mornings,  when  they  are  feeling  numb  and  chilled,  a  man 
can  sometimes  get  very  close  up  to  them,  but  as  a  rule  they 
are  very  wild,  and  the  few  I  have  killed  at  this  season  of 
the  year  have  been  shot  with  the  rifle,  either  from  a  tree 
or  when  standing  out  on  the  bare  hillsides,  at  a  consid- 
erable distance.  They  offer  very  pretty  marks  for  target 
practice  with  the  rifle,  and  it  needs  a  good  shot  to  hit  one 
at  eighty  or  a  hundred  yards. 

But  though  the  shot-gun  is  generally  of  no  use  late  in 
the  season,  yet  last  December  I  had  a  good  afternoon's 
sport  with  it.  There  was  a  light  snow  falling,  and  having 
been  in  the  house  all  the  morning,  I  determined  to  take  a 


8o  Grouse. 

stroll  out  in  the  afternoon  with  the  shot-gun.  A  couple 
of  miles  from  the  house  was  a  cedar  canyon  ;  that  is,  a 
canyon  one  of  whose  sides  was  densely  wooded  with 
gnarled,  stunted  evergreens.  This  had  been  a  favorite 
resort  for  the  sharp-tails  for  some  time,  and  it  was  espe- 
cially likely  that  they  would  go  to  it  during  a  storm,  as  it 
afforded  fine  shelter,  and  also  food.  The  buttes  bound- 
ing it  on  the  side  where  the  trees  were,  rose  to  a  sharp 
crest,  which  extended  along  with  occasional  interruptions 
for  over  a  mile,  and  by  walking  along  near  this  and  occa- 
sionally looking  out  over  it,  I  judged  I  would  get  up  close 
to  the  grouse,  while  the  falling  snow  and  the  wind  would 
deaden  the  report  of  the  gun,  and  not  let  it  scare  all  the 
prairie  fowl  out  of  the  canyon  at  the  first  fire.  It  came 
out  as  I  had  planned  and  expected.  I  clambered  up  to 
the  crest  near  the  mouth  of  the  gorge,  braced  myself 
firmly,  and  looked  over  the  top.  At  once  a  dozen  sharp- 
tails,  who  had  perched  in  the  cedar  tops  almost  at  my 
feet,  took  wing,  crossed  over  the  canyon,  and  as  they 
rose  all  in  a  bunch  to  clear  the  opposite  wall  I  fired  both 
barrels  into  the  brown,  and  two  of  the  birds  dropped  down 
to  the  bottom  of  the  ravine.  They  fell  on  the  snow- 
covered  open  ground  where  I  could  easily  find  them  again, 
and  as  it  would  have  been  a  great  and  useless  labor  to 
have  gone  down  for  them,  I  left  them  where  they  were 
and  walked  on  along  the  crest.  Before  I  had  gone  a 
hundred  yards  I  had  put  up  another  sharp-tail  from  a 
cedar  and  killed  him  in  fine  style  as  he  sailed  off  below 
me.  The  snow  and  bad  weather  seemed  to  make  the 
prairie  fowl  disinclined  to  move.  There  must  have  been 


Grouse.  8 1 

a  good  many  score  of  them  scattered  in  bunches  among 
the  cedars,  and  as  I  walked  along  I  put  up  a  covey  or  a 
single  bird  every  two  or  three  hundred  yards.  They  were 
always  started  when  I  was  close  up  to  them,  and  the 
nature  of  the  place  made  them  offer  excellent  shots  as  they 
went  off,  while  when  killed  they  dropped  down  on  the 
snow-covered  canyon  bottom  where  they  could  be  easily 
recovered  on  my  walk  home.  When  the  sharp-tails  had 
once  left  the  canyon  they  scattered  among  the  broken 
buttes.  I  tried  to  creep  up  to  one  or  two,  but  they  were 
fully  as  wild  and  watchful  as  deer,  and  would  not  let  me 
come  within  a  hundred  yards  of  them  ;  so  I  turned  back, 
climbed  down  into  the  canyon,  and  walked  homeward 
through  it,  picking  up  nine  birds  on  the  way,  the  result  of 
a  little  over  an  hour's  shooting.  Most  of  them  were  dead 
outright ;  and  the  two  or  three  who  had  been  only 
wounded  were  easily  followed  by  the  tracks  they  made  in 
the  tell-tale  snow. 

Most  of  the  prairie  fowl  I  have  killed,  however,  have 
not  been  obtained  in  the  course  of  a  day  or  an  afternoon 
regularly  spent  after  them  for  the  sake  of  the  sport,  but 
have  simply  been  shot  with  whatever  weapon  came  handy, 
because  we  actually  needed  them  for  immediate  use.  On 
more  than  one  occasion  I  would  have  gone  supperless  or 
dinnerless  had  it  not  been  for  some  of  these  grouse  ;  and 
one  such  instance  I  will  give. 

One  November,  about  the  middle  of  the  month,  we 
had  driven  in  a  beef  herd  (which  we  wished  to  ship  to  the 
cattle  yards),  round  the  old  cantonment  building,  in  which 
a  few  years  ago  troops  had  been  stationed  to  guard 


82  Grouse. 

against  Indian  outbreaks.  Having  taken  care  of  the  beef 
herd,  I  determined  to  visit  a  little  bunch  of  cattle  which 
was  some  thirty-five  miles  down  the  river,  under  the  care  of 
one  of  my  men — a  grizzled  old  fellow,  born  in  Maine, 
whose  career  had  been  varied  to  an  extent  only  possible  in 
America,  he  having  successively  followed  the  occupations 
of  seaman,  druggist,  clerk,  buffalo  hunter,  and  cowboy. 

I  intended  to  start  about  noon,  but  there  was  so  much 
business  to  settle  that  it  was  an  hour  and  a  half  afterwards 
before  I  put  spurs  to  the  smart  little  cow-pony  and  loped 
briskly  down  the  valley.  It  was  a  sharp  day,  the  mercury 
well  down  towards  zero  ;  and  the  pony,  fresh  and  untired, 
and  impatient  of  standing  in  the  cold,  went  along  at  a 
good  rate ;  but  darkness  sets  in  so  early  at  this  season 
that  I  had  not  gone  many  miles  before  I  began  to 
fear  that  I  would  not  reach  the  shack  by  nightfall.  The 
well-beaten  trail  followed  along  the  bottoms  for  some 
distance  and  then  branched  out  into  the  Bad  Lands, 
leading  up  and  down  through  the  ravines  and  over  the 
ridge  crests  of  some  very  rough  and  broken  country, 
and  crossing  a  great  level  plateau,  over  which  the  wind 
blew  savagely,  sweeping  the  powdery  snow  clean  off  of 
the  bent  blades  of  short,  brown  grass.  After  making  a 
wide  circle  of  some  twelve  miles  the  trail  again  came  back 
to  the  Little  Missouri,  and  led  along  the  bottoms  between 
the  rows  of  high  bluffs,  continually  crossing  and  recrossing 
the  river.  These  crossings  were  difficult  and  disagreeable 
for  the  horse,  as  they  always  are  when  the  ice  is  not  quite 
heavy  enough  to  bear.  The  water  had  not  frozen  until 
two  or  three  days  before,  and  the  cold  snap  had  not  yet 


Grouse.  83 

lasted  long  enough  to  make  the  ice  solid,  besides  which  it 
was  covered  with  about  half  an  inch  of  light  snow  that 
had  fallen,  concealing  all  bad-looking  places.  The  ice 
after  bearing  the  cautiously  stepping  pony  for  a  few 
yards  would  suddenly  break  and  let  him  down  to  the 
bottom,  and  he  would  then  have  to  plunge  and  paw  his 
way  through  to  the  opposite  shore.  Often  it  is  almost  im- 
possible to  make  a  pony  attempt  the  crossing  under  such 
circumstances ;  and  I  have  seen  ponies  which  had  to  be 
knocked  down  and  pulled  across  glare  ice  on  their  sides. 
If  the  horse  slips  and  falls  it  is  a  serious  matter  to  the 
rider ;  for  a  wetting  in  such  cold  weather,  with  a  long 
horseback  journey  to  make,  is  no  joke. 

I  was  still  several  miles  from  the  hut  I  was  striving  to 
reach  when  the  sun  set ;  and  for  some  time  previous  the 
valley  had  been  in  partial  darkness,  though  the  tops  of 
the  sombre  bluffs  around  were  still  lit  up.  The  pony 
loped  steadily  on  along  the  trail,  which  could  be  dimly 
made  out  by  the  starlight.  I  hurried  the  willing  little 
fellow  all  I  could  without  distressing  him,  for  though  I 
knew  the  road  pretty  well,  yet  I  doubted  if  I  could  find  it 
easily  in  perfect  darkness ;  and  the  clouds  were  gathering 
overhead  with  a  rapidity  which  showed  that  the  starlight 
would  last  but  a  short  while.  The  light  snow  rendered 
the  hoof  beats  of  my  horse  mufHed  and  indistinct ;  and 
almost  the  only  sound  that  broke  the  silence  was  the  long- 
drawn,  melancholy  howling  of  a  wolf,  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
off.  When  we  came  to  the  last  crossing  the  pony  was 
stopped  and  watered ;  and  we  splashed  through  over  a 
rapid  where  the  ice  had  formed  only  a  thin  crust.  On  the 


84  Grouse. 

opposite  side  was  a  large  patch  of  cotton-woods  thickly 
grown  up  with  underbrush,  the  whole  about  half  a  mile 
square.  In  this  was  the  cowboy's  shack,  but  as  it  was  now 
pitch  dark  I  was  unable  to  find  it  until  I  rode  clean  through 
to  the  cow-corral,  which  was  out  in  the  open  on  the  other 
side.  Here  I  dismounted,  groped  around  till  I  found  the 
path,  and  then  easily  followed  it  to  the  shack. 

Rather  to  my  annoyance  the  cowboy  was  away,  having 
run  out  of  provisions,  as  I  afterwards  learned  ;  and  of 
course  he  had  left  nothing  to  eat  behind  him.  The  tough 
little  pony  was,  according  to  custom,  turned  loose  to  shift 
for  himself ;  and  I  went  into  the  low,  windowless  hut, 
which  was  less  than  twelve  feet  square.  In  one  end  was 
a  great  chimney-place,  and  it  took  but  a  short  time  to 
start  a  roaring  fire,  which  speedily  made  the  hut  warm 
and  comfortable.  Then  I  went  down  to  the  river  with  an 
axe  and  a  pail,  and  got  some  water ;  I  had  carried  a  paper 
of  tea  in  my  pocket,  and  the  tea-kettle  was  soon  simmer- 
ing away.  I  should  have  liked  something  to  eat,  but  as  I 
did  not  have  it,  the  hot  tea  did  not  prove  such  a  bad 
substitute  for  a  cold  and  tired  man. 

Next  morning  I  sallied  out  at  break  of  day  with  the 
rifle,  for  I  was  pretty  hungry.  As  soon  as  I  stepped  from 
the  hut  I  could  hear  the  prairie  fowl  crowing  and  calling 
to  one  another  from  the  tall  trees.  There  were  many 
score — many  hundreds  would  perhaps  be  more  accurate — 
scattered  through  the  wood.  Evidently  they  had  been 
attracted  by  the  good  cover  and  by  the  thick  growth  of 
choke-cherries  and  wild  plums.  As  the  dawn  brightened 
the  sharp-tails  kept  up  incessantly  their  hoarse  clucking, 


Grouse.  85 

and  small  parties  began  to  fly  down  from  their  roosts  to 
the  berry  bushes.  While  perched  up  among  the  bare 
limbs  of  the  trees,  sharply  outlined  against  the  sky,  they 
were  very  conspicuous.  Generally  they  crouched  close 
down,  with  the  head  drawn  in  to  the  body  and  the 
feathers  ruffled,  but  when  alarmed  or  restless  they  stood  up 
straight  with  their  necks  stretched  out,  looking  very  awk- 
ward. Later  in  the  day  they  would  have  been  wild  and  hard 
to  approach,  but  I  kept  out  of  their  sight,  and  sometimes 
got  two  or  three  shots  at  the  same  bird  before  it  flew  off. 
They  offered  beautiful  marks,  and  I  could  generally  get  a 
rest  for  my  rifle,  while  in  the  gray  morning,  before  sun- 
rise, I  was  not  very  conspicuous  myself,  and  could  get  up 
close  beneath  where  they  were ;  so  I  did  not  have  much 
trouble  in  killing  five,  almost  all  of  them  shot  very  nearly 
where  the  neck  joins  the  body,  one  having  the  head  fairly 
cut  off.  Salt,  like  tea,  I  had  carried  with  me,  and  it  was 
not  long  before  two  of  the  birds,  plucked  and  cleaned, 
were  split  open  and  roasting  before  the  fire.  And  to  me 
they  seemed  most  delicious  food,  although  even  in  Novem- 
ber the  sharp-tails,  while  keeping  their  game  flavor,  have 
begun  to  be  dry  and  tough,  most  unlike  the  tender  and 
juicy  young  of  August  and  September. 

The  best  day's  work  I  ever  did  after  sharp-tails  was  in 
the  course  of  the  wagon  trip,  already  mentioned,  which 
my  brother  and  I  made  through  the  fertile  farming  coun- 
try to  the  eastward.  We  had  stopped  over  night  with  a 
Norwegian  settler  who  had  taken  and  adapted  to  a  farm- 
house an  old  log  trading-post  of  one  of  the  fur  compa- 
nies, lying  in  the  timber  which  fringed  a  river,  and  so 


86  Grouse. 

stoutly  built  as  to  have  successfully  withstood  the  assaults 
of  time.  We  were  travelling  in  a  light  covered  wagon,  in 
which  we  could  drive  anywhere  over  the  prairie.  Our 
dogs  would  have  made  an  Eastern  sportsman  blush,  for 
when  roughing  it'  in  the  West  we  have  to  put  up  with  any 
kind  of  mongrel  makeshift,  and  the  best  dog  gets  pretty 
well  battered  after  a  season  or  two.  I  never  had  a  better 
duck  retriever  than  a  little  yellow  cur,  with  hardly  a  trace 
of  hunting  blood  in  his  veins.  On  this  occasion  we  had  a 
stiff-jointed  old  pointer  with  a  stub  tail,  and  a  wild  young 
setter  pup,  tireless  and  ranging  very  free  (a  Western  dog 
on  the  prairies  should  cover  five  times  the  ground  neces- 
sary for  an  Eastern  one  to  get  over),  but  very  imperfectly 
trained. 

Half  of  the  secret  of  success  on  a  shooting  trip  lies  in 
getting  up  early  and  working  all  day  ;  and  this  at  least  we 
had  learned,  for  we  we  were  off"  as  soon  as  there  was  light 
enough  by  which  to  drive.  The  ground,  of  course,  was 
absolutely  fenceless,  houses  being  many  miles  apart. 
Through  the  prairie,  with  its  tall  grass,  in  which  the  sharp- 
tails  lay  at  night  and  during  the  day,  were  scattered  great 
grain  fields,  their  feeding-grounds  in  the  morning  and 
evening.  Our  plan  was  to  drive  from  one  field  to  another, 
getting  out  at  each  and  letting  the  dogs  hunt  it  over. 
The  birds  were  in  small  coveys  and  lay  fairly  well  to  the 
dogs,  though  they  rose  much  farther  off  from  us  in  the 
grain  fields  than  they  did  later  in  the  day  when  we  flushed 
them  from  the  tall  grass  of  the  prairie  (I  call  it  tall  grass 
in  contradistinction  to  the  short  bunch  grass  of  the  cattle 
plains  to  the  westward).  Old  stub-tail,  though  slow,  was 


Grouse.  87 

very  staunch  and  careful,  never  flushing  a  bird,  while  the 
puppy,  from  pure  heedlessness,  and  with  the  best  inten- 
tions, would  sometimes  bounce  into  the  midst  of  a  covey 
before  he  knew  of  their  presence.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
covered  twice  the  ground  that  the  pointer  did.  The 
actual  killing  the  birds  was  a  good  deal  like  quail  shoot- 
ing in  the  East,  except  that  it  was  easier,  the  marks  being 
so  much  larger.  When  we  came  to  a  field  we  would  beat 
through  it  a  hundred  yards  apart,  the  dogs  ranging  in 
long  diagonals.  When  either  the  setter  or  the  pointer 
came  to  a  stand,  the  other  generally  backed  him.  If  the 
covey  was  near  enough,  both  of  us,  otherwise,  whichever 
was  closest,  walked  cautiously  up.  The  grouse  generally 
flushed  before  we  came  up  to  the  dog,  rising  all  together, 
so  as  to  give  only  a  right  and  left. 

When  the  morning  was  well  advanced  the  grouse  left 
the  stubble  fields  and  flew  into  the  adjoining  prairie.  We 
marked  down  several  coveys  into  one  spot,  where  the 
ground  was  rolling  and  there  were  here  and  there  a  few 
bushes  in  the  hollows.  Carefully  hunting  over  this,  we 
found  two  or  three  coveys  and  had  excellent  sport  out 
of  each.  The  sharp-tails  in  these  places  lay  very  close, 
and  we  had  to  walk  them  up,  when  they  rose  one  at 
a  time,  and  thus  allowed  us  shot  after  shot ;  whereas, 
as  already  said,  earlier  in  the  day  we  merely  got 
a  quick  right  and  left  at  each  covey.  At  least  half 
the  time  we  were  shooting  in  our  rubber  overcoats,  as 
the  weather  was  cloudy  and  there  were  frequent  flurries 
of  rain. 

We  rested  a  couple  of  hours  at  noon  for  lunch,  and 


88  Grouse. 

the  afternoon's  sport  was  simply  a  repetition  of  the  morn- 
ing's, except  that  we  had  but  one  dog  to  work  with ; 
for  shortly  after  mid-day  the  stub-tail  pointer,  for  his  sins, 
encountered  a  skunk,  with  which  he  waged  prompt  and 
valiant  battle — thereby  rendering  himself,  for  the  balance 
of  the  time,  wholly  useless  as  a  servant  and  highly 
offensive  as  a  companion. 

The  setter  pup  did  well,  ranging  very*  freely,  but 
naturally  got  tired  and  careless,  flushing  his  birds  half  the 
time ;  and  we  had  to  stop  when  we  still  had  a  good  hour 
of  daylight  left.  Nevertheless  we  had  in  our  wagon, 
when  we  came  in  at  night,  a  hundred  and  five  grouse, 
of  which  sixty-two  had  fallen  to  my  brother's  gun,  and 
forty-three  to  mine.  We  would  have  done  much  better 
with  more  serviceable  dogs ;  besides,  I  was  suffering 
all  day  long  from  a  most  acute  colic,  which  was  any 
thing  but  a  help  to  good  shooting. 

Besides  the  sharp-tail  there  is  but  one  kind  of  grouse 
found  in  the  northern  cattle  plains.  This  is  the  sage 
cock,  a  bird  the  size  of  a  young  turkey,  and,  next  to 
the  Old  World  capercailzie  or  cock  of  the  woods,  the 
largest  of  the  grouse  family.  It  is  a  handsome  bird 
with  a  long  pointed  tail  and  black  belly,  and  is  a  very 
characteristic  form  of  the  regions  which  it  inhabits. 

It  is  peculiarly  a  desert  grouse,  for  though  sometimes 
found  in  the  grassy  prairies  and  on  the  open  river 
bottoms,  it  seems  really  to  prefer  the  dry  arid  wastes 
where  the  withered-looking  sage-brush  and  the  spiney 
cactus  are  almost  the  only  plants  to  be  found,  and  where 
the  few  pools  of  water  are  so  bitterly  alkaline  as  to  be 


Grouse.  89 

nearly  undrinkable.  It  is  pre-eminently  the  grouse  of  the 
plains,  and,  unlike  all  of  its  relatives,  is  never  found  near 
trees ;  indeed  no  trees  grow  in  its  haunts. 

As  is  the  case  with  the  two  species  of  prairie  fowl  the 
cocks  of  this  great  bird  become  very  noisy  in  the  early 
spring.  If  a  man  happens  at  that  season  to  be  out  in  the 
dry  plains  which  are  frequented  by  the  sage  fowl  he  will 
hear  in  the*  morning,  before  sunrise,  the  deep,  sonorous 
booming  of  the  cocks,  as  they  challenge  one  another  or 
call  to  their  mates.  This  call  is  uttered  in  a  hollow,  bass 
tone,  and  can  be  heard  a  long  distance  in  still  weather ;  it 
is  difficult  to  follow  up,  for  it  has  a  very  ventriloquial 
effect. 

Unlike  the  sharp-tail  the  habits  and  haunts  of  the 
sage  fowl  are  throughout  the  year  the  same,  except 
that  it  grows  shyer  as  the  season  advances,  and  occa- 
sionally wanders  a  little  farther  than  formerly  from  its 
birthplace.  It  is  only  found  where  the  tough,  scraggly 
wild  sage  abounds,  and  it  feeds  for  most  of  the  year  solely 
on  sage  leaves,  varying  this  diet  in  August  and  September 
by  quantities  of  grasshoppers.  Curiously  enough  it  does 
not  possess  any  gizzard,  such  as  most  gallinaceous  birds 
have,  but  has  in  its  place  a  membranous  stomach,  suited 
to  the  digestion  of  its  peculiar  food. 

The  little  chicks  follow  their  mother  as  soon  as 
hatched,  and  she  generally  keeps  them  in  the  midst  of 
some  patch  of  sage-brush  so  dense  as  to  be  almost  im- 
penetrable to  man  or  beast.  The  little  fellows  skulk  and 
dodge  through  the  crooked  stems  so  cleverly  that  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  catch  them.  Early  in  August,  when 


90  Grouse. 

the  brood  is  well  grown,  the  mother  leads  them  out,  and 
during  the  next  two  months  they  are  more  often  found 
out  on  the  grassy  prairies  than  is  the  case  at  any  other 
season.  They  do  not  form  into  packs  like  the  prairie 
fowl  as  winter  comes  on,  two  broods  at  the  outside 
occasionally  coming  together  ;  and  they  then  again  retire 
to  the  more  waste  parts  of  the  plains,  living  purely  on 
sage  leaves,  and  keeping  closely  to  the  best-sheltered  hol- 
lows until  the  spring-time. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  season  the  young,  and  indeed 
their  parents  also,  are  tame  and  unsuspicious  to  the  very 
verge  of  stupidity,  and  at  this  time  are  often  known  by 
the  name  of  "fool-hens"  among  the  frontiers-men.  They 
grow  shyer  as  the  season  advances,  and  after  the  first  of 
October  are  difficult  to  approach,  but  even  then  are  rarely 
as  wild  as  the  sharp-tails. 

It  is  commonly  believed  that  the  flesh  of  the  sage 
fowl  is  uneatable,  but  this  is  very  far  from  being  the  truth, 
and,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  excellent  eating  in  August  and 
September,  when  grasshoppers  constitute  their  chief  food, 
and,  if  the  birds  are  drawn  as  soon  as  shot,  is  generally 
perfectly  palatable  at  other  seasons  of  the  year.  The 
first  time  I  happened  to  find  this  out  was  on  the  course 
of  a  trip  taken  with  one  of  my  foremen  as  a  companion 
through  the  arid  plains  to  the  westward  of  the  Little  Mis- 
souri. We  had  been  gone  for  two  or  three  days  and 
camped  by  a  mud  hole,  which  was  almost  dry,  what 
water  it  still  held  being  almost  as  thick  as  treacle.  Our 
luxuries  being  limited,  I  bethought  me  of  a  sage  cock 
which  I  had  shot  during  the  day  and  had  hung  to  the 


Grouse.  91 

saddle.  I  had  drawn  it  as  soon  as  it  was  picked  up,  and 
I  made  up  my  mind  to  try  how  it  tasted.  A  good  deal 
to  our  surprise,  the  meat,  though  dark  and  coarse-grained, 
proved  perfectly  well  flavored,  and  was  quite  as  good  as 
wild-goose,  which  it  much  resembled.  Some  young  sage 
fowl,  shot  shortly  afterward,  proved  tender  and  juicy,  and 
tasted  quite  as  well  as  sharp-tails.  All  of  these  birds  had 
their  crops  crammed  with  grasshoppers,  and  doubtless 
the  nature  of  their  food  had  much  to  do  with  their  prov- 
ing so  good  for  the  table.  An  old  bird,  which  had  fed  on 
nothing  but  sage,  and  was  not  drawn  when  shot,  would, 
beyond  question,  be  very  poor  eating.  Like  the  spruce 
grouse  and  the  two  kinds  of  prairie  fowl,  but  unlike  the 
ruffed  grouse  and  blue  grouse,  the  sage  fowl  has  dark 
meat. 

In  walking  and  running  on  the  ground,  sage  fowl  act 
much  like  common  hens,  and  can  skulk  through  the  sage- 
brush so  fast  that  it  is  often  difficult  to  make  them  take 
wing.  When  surprised  they  will  sometimes  squat  flat 
down  with  their  heads  on  the  ground,  when  it  is  very 
difficult  to  make  them  out,  as  their  upper  parts  har- 
monize curiously  in  color  with  the  surroundings.  I  have 
never  known  of  their  being  shot  over  a  dog,  and,  indeed, 
the  country  where  they  are  found  is  so  dry  and  difficult 
that  no  dog  would  be  able  to  do  any  work  in  it. 

When  flushed,  they  rise  with  a  loud  whirring,  laboring 
heavily,  often  clucking  hoarsely  ;  when  they  get  fairly 
under  way  they  move  along  in  a  strong,  steady  flight, 
sailing  most  of  the  time,  but  giving,  every  now  and  then, 
a  succession  of  powerful  wing-beats,  and  their  course  is 


92  Grouse. 

usually  sustained  for  a  mile  or  over  before  they  light. 
They  are  very  easy  marks,  but  require  hard  hitting  to 
bring  them  down,  for  they  are  very  tenacious  of  life.  On 
one  occasion  I  came  upon  a  flock  and  shot  an  old  cock 
through  the  body  with  the  rifle.  He  fell  over,  fluttering 
and  kicking,  and  I  shot  a  young  one  before  the  rest  of  the 
flock  rose.  To  my  astonishment  the  old  cock  recovered 
himself  and  made  off  after  them,  actually  flying  for  half  a 
mile  before  he  dropped.  When  I  found  him  he  was  quite 
dead,  the  ball  having  gone  clean  through  him.  It  was  a 
good  deal  as  if  a  man  had  run  a  mile  with  a  large  grape- 
shot  through  his  body. 

Most  of  the  sage  fowl  I  have  killed  have  been  shot 
with  the  rifle  when  I  happened  to  run  across  a  covey 
while  out  riding,  and  wished  to  take  two  or  three  of  them 
back  for  dinner.  Only  once  did  I  ever  make  a  trip  with 
the  shot-gun  for  the  sole  purpose  of  a  day's  sport  with 
these  birds. 

This  was  after  having  observed  that  there  were  several 
small  flocks  of  sage  fowl  at  home  on  a  great  plateau  or 
high  plain,  crossed  by  several  dry  creeks,  which  was  about 
eight  miles  from  the  cow-camp  where  I  was  staying ;  and 
I  concluded  that  I  would  devote  a  day  to  their  pur- 
suit. Accordingly,  one  morning  I  started  out  on  horse- 
back with  my  double-barrel  lobore  and  a  supply  of 
cartridges  loaded  with  No.  4  shot ;  one  of  my  cowboys 
went  with  me  carrying  a  rifle  so  as  to  be  ready  if  we 
ran  across  any  antelope.  Our  horses  were  fresh,  and 
the  only  way  to  find  the  birds  was  to  cover  as  much 
ground  as  possible ;  so  as  soon  as  we  reached  the  plateau 


Grouse.  93 

we  loped  across  it  in  parallel  lines  till  we  struck  one  of  the 
creeks,  when  we  went  up  it,  one  on  each  side,  at  a  good 
gait,  and  then  crossed  over  to  another,  where  we  repeated 
the  operation.  It  was  nearly  noon  when,  while  going 
up  the  third  creek,  we  ran  into  a  covey  of  about  fifteen 
sage  fowl — a  much  larger  covey  than  ordinary.  They 
were  down  in  the  bottom  of  the  creek,  which  here  ex- 
hibited a  formation  very  common  on  the  plains.  Although 
now  perfectly  dry,  every  series  of  heavy  rainfalls  changed 
it  into  a  foaming  torrent,  which  flowed  down  the  valley 
in  sharp  curves,  eating  away  the  land  into  perpendicular 
banks  on  the  outside  of  each  curve.  Thus  a  series  of 
small  bottoms  was  formed,  each  fronted  by  a  semicircular 
bluff,  highest  in  the  middle,  and  rising  perfectly  sheer 
and  straight.  At  the  foot  of  these  bluffs,  which  varied 
from  six  to  thirty  feet  in  height,  was  the  bed  of  the 
stream.  In  many  of  these  creeks  there  will  be  a  growth 
of  small  trees  by  the  stream  bed,  where  it  runs  under 
the  bluffs,  and  perhaps  pools  of  water  will  be  found  in 
such  places  even  in  times  of  drought.  But  on  the  creek 
where  we  found  the  sage  fowl  there  were  neither  trees 
nor  water,  and  the  little  bottoms  were  only  covered 
with  stunted  sage-brush.  Dismounting  and  leaving  my 
horse  with  the  cowboy  I  walked  down  to  the  edge  of 
the  bottom,  which  was  not  more  than  thirty  or  forty 
yards  across.  The  covey  retreated  into  the  brush,  some 
of  the  birds  crouching  flat  down,  while  the  others  walked 
or  ran  off  among  the  bushes.  They  were  pretty  tame, 
and  rose  one  at  a  time  as  I  walked  on.  They  had  to 
rise  over  the  low,  semicircular  bluff  in  front  of  them, 


94  Grouse. 

and,  it  being  still  early  in  the  season,  they  labored  heavily 
as  they  left  the  ground.  I  fired  just  as  they  topped 
the  bluff,  and  as  they  were  so  close  and  large,  and  were 
going  so  slowly,  I  was  able  to  knock  over  eight  birds, 
hardly  moving  from  my  place  during  the  entire  time. 
On  our  way  back  we  ran  into  another  covey,  a  much 
smaller  one,  on  the  side  of  another  creek  ;  of  these  I 
got  a  couple  ;  and  I  got  another  out  of  still  a  third  covey, 
which  we  found  out  in  the  open,  but  of  which  the  birds 
all  rose  and  made  off  together.  We  carrried  eleven 
birds  back,  most  of  them  young  and  tender,  and  all  of 
them  good  eating. 

In  shooting  grouse  we  sometimes  run  across  rabbits. 
There  are  two  kinds  of  these.  One  is  the  little  cotton- 
tail, almost  precisely  similar  in  appearance  to  the  com- 
mon gray  rabbit  of  the  Eastern  woods.  It  abounds  in 
all  the  patches  of  dense  cover  along  the  river  bottoms 
and  in  the  larger  creeks,  and  can  be  quite  easily  shot 
at  all  times,  but  especially  when  there  is  any  snow  on 
the  ground.  It  is  eatable  but  hardly  ever  killed  except 
to  poison  and  throw  out  as  bait  for  the  wolves. 

The  other  kind  is  the  great  jack  rabbit.  This  is  a 
characteristic  animal  of  the  plains  ;  quite  as  much  so  as 
the  antelope  or  prairie  dog.  It  is  not  very  abundant, 
but  is  found  everywhere  over  the  open  ground,  both 
on  the  prairie  or  those  river  bottoms  which  are  not 
wooded,  and  in  the  more  open  valleys  and  along  the 
gentle  slopes  of  the  Bad  Lands.  Sometimes  it  keeps 
to  the  patches  of  sage-brush,  and  in  such  cases  will  lie 
close  to  the  ground  when  approached ;  but  more  often 


Grouse.  95 

it  is  found  in  the  short  grass  where  there  is  no  cover 
at  all  to  speak  of,  and  relies  upon  its  speed  for  its  safety. 
It  is  a  comical-looking  beast  with  its  huge  ears  and 
long  legs,  and  runs  very  fast,  with  a  curious  lop-sided 
gait,  as  if  it  was  off  its  balance.  After  running  a  couple 
of  hundred  yards  it  will  generally  stop  and  sit  up  erect 
on  its  haunches  to  look  round  and  see  if  it  is  pursued. 
In  winter  it  turns  snow-white  except  that  the  tips  of  the 
ears  remain  black.  The  flesh  is  dry,  and  I  have  never 
eaten  it  unless  I  could  get  nothing  else. 

Jack-rabbits  are  not  plentiful  enough  nor  valuable 
enough  to  warrant  a  man's  making  a  hunting  trip 
solely  for  their  sakes  ;  and  the  few  that  I  have  shot  have 
been  killed  with  the  rifle  while  out  after  other  game. 
They  offer  beautiful  marks  for  target  practice  when  they 
sit  upon  their  haunches.  But  though  hardly  worth 
powder  they  afford  excellent  sport  when  coursed  with 
greyhounds,  being  very  fleet,  and  when  closely  pressed 
able  to  double  so  quickly  that  the  dogs  shoot  by  them. 
For  reasons  already  given,  however,  it  is  difficult  to  keep 
sporting  dogs  on  the  plains,  though  doubtless  in  the 
future  coursing  with  greyhounds  will  become  a  recognized 
Western  sport. 

This  finishes  the  account  of  the  small  game  of  the 
northern  cattle  country.  The  wild  turkey  is  not  found 
with  us  ;  but  it  is  an  abundant  bird  farther  south,  and 
eagerly  followed  by  the  ranchmen  in  whose  neighborhood 
it  exists.  And  as  it  is  easily  the  king  of  all  game 
birds,  and  as  its  pursuit  is  a  peculiarly  American  form 
of  sport,  some  account  of  how  it  is  hunted  in  the  southern 


96  Wild  Turkey. 

plains  country  may  be  worth  reading.  The  following 
is  an  extract  from  a  letter  written  to  me  by  my  brother, 
in  December,  1875,  while  he  was  in  Texas,  containing  an 
account  of  some  of  his  turkey-hunting  experience  in  that 
State.  The  portion  relating  how  the  birds  are  coursed 
with  greyhounds  is  especially  markworthy  ;  it  reminds 
one  of  the  method  of  killing  the  great  bustard  with  gaze- 
hounds,  as  described  in  English  sporting  books  of  two 
centuries  back. 

"  Here,  some  hundred  miles  south  and  west  of  Fort 
McKavett,  are  the  largest  turkey  roosts  in  the  world. 
This  beautiful  fertile  valley,  through  which  the  deep, 
silent  stream  of  the  Llano  flows,  is  densely  wooded 
with  grand  old  pecan  trees  along  its  banks ;  as  are 
those  of  its  minor  tributaries  which  come  boiling  down 
from  off  the  immense  upland  water-shed  of  the  staked 
plains,  cutting  the  sides  of  the  '  divide '  into  narrow 
canyons.  The  journey  to  this  sportsman's  paradise  was 
over  the  long-rolling  plains  of  Western  Texas.  Hour 
after  hour  through  the  day's  travel  we  would  drop 
into  the  trough  of  some  great  plains-wave  only  to  toil 
on  up  to  the  crest  of  the  next,  and  be  met  by  an  endless 
vista  of  boundless,  billowy-looking  prairie.  We  were  fol- 
lowing the  old  Fort  Terret  trail,  its  ruts  cut  so  deep 
in  the  prairie  soil  by  the  heavy  supply  wagons  that  these 
ten  years  have  not  healed  the  scars  in  the  earth's  face. 
At  last,  after  journeying  for  leagues  through  the  stunted 
live  oaks,  we  saw  from  the  top  of  one  of  the  larger  divides 
a  dark  bluish  line  against  the  horizon, — the  color  of 
distant  leafless  trees, — and  knew  that  it  meant  we  should 


Wild  Turkey.  97 

soon  open  out  the  valley.  Another  hour  brought  us 
over  the  last  divide,  and  then  our  hunting  grounds  lay  be- 
fore and  below  us.  All  along  through  the  unbroken  nat- 
ural fields  the  black-tail  and  prong-horn  abound,  and  feast 
to  their  hearts'  content  all  the  winter  through  on  the 
white,  luscious,  and  nutritious  mesquite  grass.  Through 
the  valley  with  its  flashing  silver  stream  ran  the  dark 
line  of  the  famous  pecan-tree  forests — the  nightly  rest- 
ing-place of  that  king  of  game  birds,  the  wild  turkey. 
It  would  sound  like  romancing  to  tell  of  the  endless 
number  and  variety  of  the  waterfowl  upon  the  river; 
while  the  multitude  of  game  fish  inhabiting  the  waters 
make  the  days  spent  on  the  river  with  the  rod  rival  in 
excitement  and  good  sport  the  nights  passed  gun  in  hand 
among  the  trees  in  the  roosts.  Of  course,  as  we  are 
purely  out  on  a  turkey  shoot,  during  the  day  no 
louder  sport  is  permitted  than  whipping  the  stream,  or 
taking  the  greyhounds  well  back  on  the  plains  away  from 
the  river  to  course  antelope,  jack-rabbit,  or  maybe  even 
some  fine  old  gobbler  himself. 

"When,  after  our  journey,  we  reached  the  brink  of 
the  canyon,  to  drop  down  into  the  valley,  pass  over 
the  lowlands,  and  settle  ourselves  comfortably  in  camp 
under  the  shadow  of  the  old  stockade  fort  by  the 
river,  was  a  matter  of  but  a  few  hours.  There  we 
waited  for  the  afternoon  shadows  to  lengthen  and  the 
evening  to  come,  when  off  we  went  up  the  stream  for 
five  or  six  miles  to  a  spot  where  some  mighty  forest 
monarchs  with  huge,  bare,  spreading  limbs  had  caught  the 
eye  of  one  of  our  sporting  scouts  in  the  afternoon.  Leav- 


98  Wild  Turkey. 

ing  our  horses  half  a  mile  from  the  place,  we  walked 
silently  along  the  river  bank  through  the  jungle  to  the 
roosting  trees,  where  we  scattered,  and  each  man  secreted 
himself  as  best  he  could  in  the  underbrush,  or  in  a  hol- 
low stump,  or  in  the  reeds  of  the  river  itself.  The 
sun  was  setting,  and  over  the  hills  and  from  the  low- 
lands came  the  echoes  of  the  familiar  gobble,  gobble, 
gobble,  as  each  strutting,  foolishly  proud  cock  headed  his 
admiring  family  for  the  roost,  after  their  day's  feeding 
on  the  uplands.  Soon,  as  I  lay  close  and  hushed  in 
my  hiding-place,  sounds  like  the  clinking  of  silver,  fol- 
lowed by  what  seemed  like  a  breath  of  the  wind  rushing 
through  the  trees,  struck  my  ears.  I  hardly  dared 
breathe,  for  the  sounds  were  made  by  the  snapping  of 
a  gobbler's  quills  and  his  rustling  feathers  ;  and  imme- 
diately a  magnificent  old  bird,  swelling  and  clucking, 
bullying  his  wives  and  abusing  his  weaker  children 
to  the  last,  trod  majestically  down  to  the  water's  edge, 
and,  after  taking  his  evening  drink,  winged  his  way  to 
his  favorite  bough  above,  where  he  was  joined,  one 
by  one,  by  his  family  and  relations  and  friends,  who  came 
by  tens  and  dozens  from  the  surrounding  country. 
Soon  in  the  rapidly  darkening  twilight  the  superb  old 
pecan  trees  looked  as  if  they  were  bending  under  a  heavy 
crop  of  the  most  odd-shaped  and  lively  kind  of  fruit. 
The  air  was  filled  with  the  peevish  pi-ou  !  pi-ou !  of  the 
sleepy  birds.  Gradually  the  noisy  fluttering  subsided, 
and  the  last  faint  unsettled  peep  even  was  hushed.  Dead 
silence  reigned,  and  we  waited  and  watched.  The  moon 
climbed  up,  and  in  an  another  hour,  as  we  looked  through 


Wild  Turkey.  99 

the  tree-tops,  we  could  make  out  against  the  light  back- 
ground of  the  sky,  almost  as  clearly  as  by  day,  the  sleep- 
ing victims  of  our  guns  and  rifles.  A  low  soft  whistle 
was  passed  along  from  man  to  man  ;  and  the  signal  given, 
how  different  the  scene  became  !  A  deafening  report 
suddenly  rang  out  into  the  silent  night,  a  flash  of  light 
belched  from  the  gun  muzzle,  and  a  heavy  thud  followed 
as  twenty  pounds  of  turkey  struck  the  ground.  In  our 
silent  moccasins  we  flitted  about  under  the  roost,  and  report 
after  report  on  all  sides  told  how  good  the  sport  was  and 
how  excellent  the  chance  that  the  boys  at  McKavett 
would  have  plenty  of  turkeys  at  their  Christmas  dinner. 
The  turkeys  were  so  surprised  by  the  sudden  noise,  so 
entirely  unprepared  for  the  visit  of  the  sportsman  to 
their  secluded  retreat,  that  they  did  not  know  what  to 
make  of  it,  often  remaining  stupidly  on  their  branch 
after  a  companion  five  feet  off  had  been  shot  down. 
With  the  last  bird  shot  or  flown  away  ended  our  even- 
ing's sport.  All  the  dead  birds  were  gathered  together 
and  strapped  in  bunches  by  our  saddles  and  on  the 
pack-mules.  It  does  not  take  many  pecan-  and  grass- 
fed  turkeys  to  make  a  load,  and  back  we  trotted  to  camp, 
the  steel  hoofs  striking  into  the  prairie  soil  with  a  merry 
ring  of  triumph  over  the  night's  work.  The  hour  was 
nearly  midnight  when  we  sat  down  to  the  delicately 
browned  turkey  steaks  in  the  mess  tent,  and  realized  that 
we  had  enjoyed  the  delights  of  one  of  the  best  sports  in 
Texas — turkey-shooting  in  the  roosts. 

"  Early  in  the  afternoon  following  the  night's  sport 
we  left  the  fort  mounted  on  fine  three-quarter  Kentucky 


300  Wild  Turkey. 

thorough-breds,  and  taking  the  eleven  greyhounds,  struck 
off  six  or  eight  miles  into  the  plains.  Then  spreading 
into  line  we  alternated  dogs  and  horses,  and  keeping  a 
general  direction,  beat  up  the  small  oak  clumps,  grass 
clusters,  or  mesquite  jungles  as  we  went  along.  Soon, 
with  a  loud  whirr  of  wings,  three  or  four  turkeys  rose 
out  of  the  grass  ahead,  started  up  by  one  of  the  grey- 
hounds ;  the  rest  of  the  party  closed  in  from  all  sides ; 
dogs  and  men  choosing  each  the  bird  they  marked  as 
theirs.  The  turkey,  after  towering  a  bit,  with  wings  set 
struck  off  at  a  pace  like  a  bullet,  and  with  eyes  fixed  up- 
wards the  hounds  coursed  after  him.  It  was  whip  and 
spur  for  a  mile  as  hard  as  horse,  man,  and  hound  could 
make  the  pace.  The  turkey  at  last  came  down  nearer  and 
nearer  the  ground,  its  small  wings  refusing  to  bear  the 
weight  of  the  heavy  body.  Finally,  down  he  came  and 
began  running ;  then  the  hounds  closed  in  on  him  and 
forced  him  up  again  as  is  always  the  case.  The  second 
flight  was  not  a  strong  one,  and  soon  he  was  skimming 
ten  or  even  a  less  number  of  feet  from  the  ground.  Now 
came  the  sport  of  it  all ;  the  hounds  were  bunched  and 
running  like  a  pack  behind  him.  Suddenly  old  '  Grim- 
beard,'  in  the  heart  of  the  pack,  thought  it  was  time  for 
the  supreme  effort  ;  with  a  rush  he  went  to  the  front,  and 
as  a  mighty  spring  carried  him  up  in  the  air,  he  snaped 
his  clean,  cruel  fangs  under  the  brave  old  gobbler,  who 
by  a  great  effort  rose  just  out  of  reach.  One  after  another 
in  the  next  twenty-five  yards  each  hound  made  his  trial  and 
failed.  At  last  the  old  hound  again  made  his  rush,sprang 
up  a  wonderful  height  into  the  air,  and  cut  the  bird  down 
as  with  a  knife. 


Wild  Turkey.  101 

"  The  first  flight  of  a  turkey  when  being  coursed  is 
rarely  more  than  a  mile,  and  the  second  about  half  as  long. 
After  that,  if  it  gets  up  at  all  again,  it  is  for  very  short 
flights  so  near  the  ground  that  it  is  soon  cut  down  by 
any  hound.  The  astonishing  springs  a  greyhound  who  is 
an  old  hand  at  turkey  coursing  will  make  are  a  constant 
source  of  surprise  and  wonder  to  those  fond  of  the  sport. 
A  turkey,  after  coming  down  from  his  first  flight,  will 
really  perform  the  feat  which  fable  attributes  to  the 
ostrich  ;  that  is,  will  run  its  head  into  a  clump  of  bushes 
and  stand  motionless  as  if,  since  it  cannot  see  its  foes,  it 
were  itself  equally  invisible.  During  the  day  turkeys  are 
scattered  all  over  the  plains,  and  it  is  no  unusual  thing 
to  get  in  one  afternoon's  ride  eight  or  ten  of  them." 


CHAPTER    IV. 


THE    DEER    OF    THE     RIVER    BOTTOMS. 


F  all  the  large  game  of  the 
United  States,  the  white-tail 
deer  is  the  best  known  and 
the  most  widely  distributed. 
Taking  the  Union  as  a  whole, 
fully  ten  men  will  be  found  who 
have  killed  white-tail  for  one  who  has 
killed  any  other  kind  of  large  game. 
And  it  is  the  only  ruminant  animal  which 
is  able  to  live  on  in  the  land  even  when  it  has  been  pretty 
thickly  settled.  There  is  hardly  a  State  wherein  it  does 
not  still  exist,  at  least  in  some  out-of-the-way  corner  ;  and 
long  after  the  elk  and  the  buffalo  have  passed  away,  and 
when  the  big-horn  and  prong-horn  have  become  rare 
indeed,  the  white-tail  deer  will  still  be  common  in  certain 
parts  of  the  country. 

When,  less  than  five  years  ago,  cattle  were  first  driven 
on  to  the  northern  plains,  the  white-tail  were  the  least 
plentiful  and  the  least  sought  after  of  all  the  large  game  ; 


102 


Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms.         103 

but  they  have  held  their  own  as  none  of  the  others  have 
begun  to  do,  and  are  already  in  certain  localities  more 
common  than  any  other  kind,  and  indeed  in  many  places 
are  more  common  than  all  other  kinds  put  together.  The 
ranchmen  along  the  Powder  River,  for  instance,  now  have 
to  content  themselves  with  white-tail  venison  unless  they 
make  long  trips  back  among  the  hills.  The  same  is  rap- 
idly getting  to  be  true  of  the  Little  Missouri.  This  is 
partly  because  the  skin  and  meat  hunters  find  the  chase 
of  this  deer  to  be  the  most  tedious  and  least  remunera- 
tive species  of  hunting,  and  therefore  only  turn  their  at- 
tention to  it  when  there  is  nothing  else  left  to  hunt,  and 
partly  because  the  sheep  and  cattle  and  the  herdsmen  who 
follow  them  are  less  likely  to  trespass  on  their  grounds 
than  on  the  grounds  of  other  game.  The  white-tail  is  the 
deer  of  the  river  bottoms  and  of  the  large  creeks,  whose 
beds  contain  plenty  of  brush  and  timber  running  down 
into  them.  It  prefers  the  densest  cover,  in  which  it  lies 
hid  all  day,  and  it  is  especially  fond  of  wet,  swampy 
places,  where  a  horse  runs  the  risk  of  being  engulfed. 
Thus  it  is  very  rarely  jumped  by  accident,  and  when  the 
cattle  stray  into  its  haunts,  which  is  but  seldom,  the  cow- 
boys are  not  apt  to  follow  them.  Besides,  unlike  most  other 
game,  it  has  no  aversion  to  the  presence  of  cattle,  and  in 
the  morning  and  evening  will  come  out  and  feed  freely 
among  them. 

This  last  habit  was  the  cause  of  our  getting1  a  fine 
buck  a  few  days  before  last  Christmas.  The  weather  was 
bitterly  cold,  the  spirit  in  the  thermometer  sometimes 
going  down  at  night  to  50°  below  zero  and  never  for  over 


104        Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms. 

a  fortnight  getting  above  —  10°  (Fahrenheit).  Snow  cov- 
ered the  ground,  to  the  depth,  however,  of  but  a  few 
inches,  for  in  the  cattle  country  the  snowfall  is  always 
light.  When  the  cold  is  so  great  it  is  far  from  pleasant 
to  be  out-of-doors.  Still  a  certain  amount  of  riding 
about  among  the  cattle  and  ponies  had  to  be  done,  and 
almost  every  day  was  spent  by  at  least  one  of  us  in 
the  saddle.  We  wore  the  heaviest  kind  of  all-wool  under- 
clothing, with  flannels,  lined  boots,  and  great  fur  coats, 
caps,  and  gauntlets  or  mittens,  but  yet  after  each  ride 
one  or  the  other  of  us  would  be  almost  sure  to  come  in 
with  a  touch  of  the  frost  somewhere  about  him.  On  one 
ride  I  froze  my  nose  and  one  cheek,  and  each  of  the  men 
froze  his  ears,  fingers,  or  toes  at  least  once  during  the 
fortnight.  This  generally  happened  while  riding  over  a 
plain  or  plateau  with  a  strong  wind  blowing  in  our  faces. 
When  the  wind  was  on  our  backs  it  was  not  bad  fun  to 
gallop  along  through  the  white  weather,  but  when  we  had 
to  face  it,  it  cut  through  us  like  a  keen  knife.  The  ponies 
did  not  seem  to  mind  the  cold  much,  but  the  cattle  were  very 
uncomfortable,  standing  humped  up  in  the  bushes  except 
for  an  hour  or  two  at  mid-day  when  they  ventured  out  to 
feed ;  some  of  the  young  stock  which  were  wintering  on 
the  range  for  the  first  time  died  from  the  exposure.  A 
very  weak  animal  we  would  bring  into  the  cow-shed  and 
feed  with  hay  ;  but  this  was  only  done  in  cases  of  the 
direst  necessity,  as  such  an  animal  has  then  to  be  fed  for 
the  rest  of  the  winter,  and  the  quantity  of  hay  is  limited. 
In  the  Bad  Lands  proper,  cattle  do  not  wander  far,  the 
deep  ravines  affording  them  a  refuge  from  the  bitter  icy 


Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms.         105 

blasts  of  the  winter  gales ;  but  if  by  any  accident  caught 
out  on  the  open  prairie  in  a  blizzard,  a  herd  will  drift 
before  it  for  maybe  more  than  a  hundred  miles,  until  it 
finds  a  shelter  capable  of  holding  it.  For  this  reason 
it  is  best  to  keep  more  or  less  of  a  look-out  over  all  the 
bunches  of  beasts,  riding  about  among  them  every  few 
days,  and  turning  back  any  herd  that  begins  to  straggle 
toward  the  open  plains ;  though  in  winter,  when  weak 
and  emaciated,  the  cattle  must  be  disturbed  and  driven  as 
little  as  possible,  or  the  loss  among  them  will  be  fearful. 
One  afternoon,  while  most  of  us  were  away  from  the 
ranch-house,  one  of  the  cowboys,  riding  in  from  his  day's 
outing  over  the  range,  brought  word  that  he  had  seen  two 
white-tail  deer,  a  buck  and  a  doe,  feeding  with  some  cattle 
on  the  side  of  a  hill  across  the  river,  and  not  much  more 
than  half  a  mile  from  the  house.  There  was  about  an 
hour  of  daylight  left,  and  one  of  the  foremen,  a  tall,  fine- 
looking  fellow  named  Ferris,  the  best  rider  on  the  ranch 
but  not  an  unusually  good  shot,  started  out  at  once  after 
the  deer ;  for  in  the  late  fall  and  early  winter  we  generally 
kill  a  good  deal  of  game,  as  it  then  keeps  well  and  serves 
as  a  food  supply  throughout  the  cold  months  ;  after  Janu- 
ary we  hunt  as  little  as  possible.  Ferris  found  the  deer 
easily  enough,  but  they  started  before  he  could  get  a 
standing  shot  at  them,  and  when  he  fired  as  they  ran,  he 
only  broke  one  of  the  buck's  hind  legs,  just  above  the 
ankle.  He  followed  it  in  the  snow  for  several  miles, 
across  the  river,  and  down  near  the  house  to  the  end  of  the 
bottom,  and  then  back  toward  the  house.  The  buck  was 
a  cunning  old  beast,  keeping  in  the  densest  cover,  and 


io6        Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms. 

often  doubling  back  on  his  trail  and  sneaking  off  to  one 
side  as  his  pursuer  passed  by.  Finally  it  grew  too  dark 
to  see  the  tracks  any  longer,  and  Ferris  came  home. 

Next  morning  early  we  went  out  to  where  he  had  left 
the  trail,  feeling  very  sure  from  his  description  of  the  place 
(which  was  less  than  a  mile  from  the  house)  that  we 
would  get  the  buck  ;  for  when  he  had  abandoned  the  pur- 
suit the  deer  was  in  a  copse  of  bushes  and  young  trees 
some  hundreds  of  yards  across,  and  in  this  it  had  doubt- 
less spent  the  night,  for  it  was  extremely  unlikely  that, 
wounded  and  tired  as  it  was,  it  would  go  any  distance 
after  finding  that  it  was  no  longer  pursued. 

When  we  got  to  the  thicket  we  first  made  a  circuit 
round  it  to  see  if  the  wounded  animal  had  broken  cover, 
but  though  there  were  fresh  deer  tracks  leading  both  in 
and  out  of  it,  none  of  them  were  made  by  a  cripple  ; 
so  we  knew  he  was  still  within.  It  would  seem  to  be 
a  very  easy  task  to  track  up  and  kill  a  broken-legged 
buck  in  light  snow  ;  but  we  had  to  go  very  cautiously, 
for  though  with  only  three  legs  he  could  still  run  a  good 
deal  faster  than  either  of  us  on  two,  and  we  were  anxious 
not  to  alarm  him  and  give  him  a  good  start.  Then 
there  were  several  well-beaten  cattle  trails  through  the 
thicket,  and  in  addition  to  that  one  or  two  other  deer 
had  been  walking  to  and  fro  within  it ;  so  that  it  was 
hard  work  to  follow  the  tracks.  After  working  some 
little  time  we  hit  on  the  right  trail,  finding  where  the 
buck  had  turned  into  the  thickest  growth.  While  Ferris 
followed  carefully  in  on  the  tracks,  I  stationed  myself 
farther  on  toward  the  outside,  knowing  that  the  buck 


Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms.         107 

would  in  all  likelihood  start  up  wind.  In  a  minute  or 
two  Ferris  came  on  the  bed  where  he  had  passed  the 
night,  and  which  he  had  evidently  just  left ;  a  shout 
informed  me  that  the  game  was  on  foot,  and  immedi- 
ately afterward  the  crackling  and  snapping  of  the  branches 
were  heard  as  the  deer  rushed  through  them.  I  ran  as 
rapidly  and  quietly  as  possible  toward  the  place  where 
the  sounds  seemed  to  indicate  that  he  would  break 
cover,  stopping  under  a  small  tree.  A  minute  after- 
ward he  appeared,  some  thirty  yards  off  on  the  edge  of 
the  thicket,  and  halted  for  a  second  to  look  round 
before  going  into  the  open.  Only  his  head  and  antlers 
were  visible  above  the  bushes  which  hid  from  view  the 
rest  of  his  body.  He  turned  his  head  sharply  toward 
me  as  I  raised  the  rifle,  and  the  bullet  went  fairly  into 
his  throat,  just  under  the  jaw,  breaking  his  neck,  and 
bringing  him  down  in  his  tracks  with  hardly  a  kick. 
He  was  a  fine  buck  of  eight  points,  unusually  fat,  con- 
sidering that  the  rutting  season  was  just  over.  We 
dressed  it  at  once,  and,  as  the  house  was  so  near,  de- 
termined we  would  drag  it  there  over  the  snow  our- 
selves, without  going  back  for  a  horse.  Each  took  an 
antler,  and  the  body  slipped  along  very  easily  ;  but  so 
intense  was  the  cold  that  we  had  to  keep  shifting  sides 
all  the  time,  the  hand  which  grasped  the  horn  becoming 
numb  almost  immediately. 

White-tail  are  very  canny,  and  know  perfectly  well 
what  threatens  danger  and  what  does  not.  Their  larger, 
and  to  my  mind  nobler,  relation,  the  black-tail,  is  if 
any  thing  easier  to  approach  and  kill,  and  yet  is  by  no 


io8        Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms. 

means  so  apt  to  stay  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of 
a  ranch,  where  there  is  always  more  or  less  noise  and 
confusion.  The  bottom  on  which  my  ranch-house 
stands  is  a  couple  of  miles  in  length,  and  well  wooded  ; 
all  through  last  summer  it  was  the  home  of  a  number 
of  white-tails,  and  most  of  them  are  on  it  to  this  mo- 
ment. Two  fawns  in  especial  were  really  amusingly 
tame,  at  one  time  spending  their  days  hid  in  an  almost 
impenetrable  tangle  of  bullberry  bushes,  whose  hither 
edge  was  barely  a  hundred  yards  from  the  ranch- 
house  ;  and  in  the  evening  they  could  frequently  be 
seen  from  the  door,  as  they  came  out  to  feed.  In 
walking  out  after  sunset,  or  in  riding  home  when  night 
had  fallen,  we  would  often  run  across  them  when  it  was 
too  dark  to  make  out  any  thing  but  their  flaunting 
white  tails  as  they  cantered  out  of  the  way.  Yet  for 
all  their  seeming  familiarity  they  took  good  care  not  to 
expose  themselves  to  danger.  We  were  reluctant  to 
molest  them,  but  one  day,  having  performed  our  usual 
weekly  or  fortnightly  feat  of  eating  up  about  every 
thing  there  was  in  the  house,  it  was  determined  that 
the  two  deer  (for  it  was  late  in  autumn  and  they  were 
then  well  grown)  should  be  sacrificed.  Accordingly  one 
of  us  sallied  put,  but  found  that  the  sacrifice  was  not 
to  be  consummated  so  easily,  for  the  should-be  victims 
appeared  to  distinguish  perfectly  well  between  a  mere 
passer-by,  whom  they  regarded  with  absolute  indiffer- 
ence, and  any  one  who  harbored  sinister  designs.  They 
kept  such  a  sharp  look-out,  and  made  off  so  rapidly  if 
any  one  tried  to  approach  them,  that  on  two  evenings 


Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms.        109 

the  appointed  hunter  returned  empty-handed,  and  by  the 
third  some  one  else  had  brought  in  a  couple  of  black- 
tail.  After  that  no  necessity  arose  for  molesting  the 
two  "  tame  deer,"  for  whose  sound  common-sense  we 
had  all  acquired  a  greatly  increased  respect. 

When  not  much  molested  white-tail  feed  in  the 
evening  or  late  afternoon  ;  but  if  often  shot  at  and 
chased  they  only  come  out  at  night.  They  are  very 
partial  to  the  water,  and  in  the  warm  summer  nights 
will  come  down  into  the  prairie  ponds  and  stand  knee- 
deep  in  them,  eating  the  succulent  marsh  plants.  Most 
of  the  plains  rivers  flow  through  sandy  or  muddy  beds 
with  no  vegetable  growth,  and  to  these,  of  course,  the 
deer  merely  come  down  to  drink  or  refresh  themselves 
by  bathing,  as  they  contain  nothing  to  eat. 

Throughout  the  day  the  white-tails  keep  in  the 
densest  thickets,  choosing  if  possible  those  of  considera- 
ble extent.  For  this  reason  they  are  confined  to  the 
bottoms  of  the  rivers  and  the  mouths  of  the  largest 
creeks,  the  cover  elsewhere  being  too  scanty  to  suit  them. 
It  is  very  difficult  to  make  them  leave  one  of  their 
haunts  during  the  daytime.  They  lie  very  close,  per- 
mitting a  man  to  pass  right  by  them  ;  and  the  twigs 
and  branches  surrounding  them  are  so  thick  and  inter- 
laced that  they  can  hear  the  approach  of  any  one  from 
a  long  distance  off,  and  hence  are  rarely  surprised.  If 
they  think  there  is  danger  that  the  intruder  will  discover 
them,  they  arise  and  skulk  silently  off  through  the  thickest 
part  of  the  brush.  If  followed,  they  keep  well  ahead, 
moving  perfectly  noiselessly  through  the  thicket,  often 


no        Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms. 

going  round  in  a  circle  and  not  breaking  cover  until 
hard  pressed  ;  yet  all  the  time  stepping  with  such  sharp- 
eyed  caution  that  the  pursuing  hunter  will  never  get  a 
glimpse  of  the  quarry,  though  the  patch  of  brush  may 
not  be  fifty  rods  across. 

At  times  the  white-tail  will  lie  so  close  that  it  may 
almost  be  trodden  on.  One  June  morning  I  was  riding 
down  along  the  river,  and  came  to  a  long  bottom, 
crowded  with  rose-bushes,  all  in  bloom.  It  was  crossed 
in  every  direction  by  cattle  paths,  and  a  drove  of  long- 
horned  Texans  were  scattered  over  it.  A  cow-pony  gets 
accustomed  to  travelling  at  speed  along  the  cattle  trails, 
and  the  one  I  bestrode  threaded  its  way  among  the 
twisted  narrow  paths  with  perfect  ease,  loping  rapidly 
onward  through  a  sea  of  low  rose-bushes,  covered  with 
the  sweet,  pink  flowers.  They  gave  a  bright  color  to 
the  whole  plain,  while  the  air  was  filled  with  the  rich, 
full  songs  of  the  yellow-breasted  meadow  larks,  as  they 
perched  on  the  topmost  sprays  of  the  little  trees.  Sud- 
denly a  white-tail  doe  sprang  up  almost  from  under  the 
horse's  feet,  and  scudded  off  with  her  white  flag  flaunting. 
There  was  no  reason  for  harming  her,  and  she  made  a 
pretty  picture  as  she  bounded  lightly  off  among  the 
rose-red  flowers,  passing  without  heed  through  the  ranks 
of  the  long-horned  and  savage-looking  steers. 

Doubtless  she  had  a  little  spotted  fawn  not  far  away. 
These  wee  fellows  soon  after  birth  grow  very  cunning  and 
able  to  take  care  of  themselves,  keeping  in  the  densest 
part  of  the  brush,  through  which  they  run  and  dodge 
like  a  rabbit.  If  taken  young  they  grow  very  tame  and 


Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms.         1 1 1 

are  most  dainty  pets.  One  which  we  had  round  the 
house  answered  well  to  its  name.  It  was  at  first  fed 
with  milk,  which  it  lapped  eagerly  from  a  saucer,  sharing 
the  meal  with  the  two  cats,  who  rather  resented  its 
presence  and  cuffed  it  heartily  when  they  thought  it  was 
greedy  and  was  taking  more  than  its  share.  As  it  grew 
older  it  would  eat  bread  or  potatoes  from  our  hands, 
and  was  perfectly  fearless.  At  night  it  was  let  go  or 
put  in  the  cow-shed,  whichever  was  handiest,  but  it  was 
generally  round  in  time  for  breakfast  next  morning.  A 
blue  ribbon  with  a  bell  attached  was  hung  round  its 
neck,  so  as  to  prevent  its  being  shot ;  but  in  the  end  it 
shared  the  fate  of  all  pets,  for  one  night  it  went  off 
and  never  came  back  again.  Perhaps  it  strayed  away 
of  its  own  accord,  but  more  probably  some  raw  hand  at 
hunting  saw  it,  and  slaughtered  it  without  noticing  the 
bell  hanging  from  its  neck. 

The  best  way  to  kill  white-tail  is  to  still-hunt  carefully 
through  their  haunts  at  dusk,  when  the  deer  leave  the 
deep  recesses  in  which  their  day-beds  lie,  and  come  out  to 
feed  in  the  more  open  parts.  For  this  kind  of  hunting, 
no  dress  is  so  good  as  a  buckskin  suit  and  moccasins. 
The  moccasins  enable  one  to  tread  softly  and  noislessly, 
while  the  buckskin  suit  is  of  a  most  inconspicuous  color, 
and  makes  less  rustling  than  any  other  material  when 
passing  among  projecting  twigs.  Care  must  be  taken  to 
always  hunt  up  wind,  and  to  advance  without  any  sudden 
motions,  walking  close  in  to  the  edge  of  the  thickets,  and 
keeping  a  sharp  look-out,  as  it  is  of  the  first  importance  to 
see  the  game  before  the  game  sees  you.  The  feeding- 


U2        Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms. 

grounds  of  the  deer  may  vary.  If  they  are  on  a  bottom 
studded  with  dense  copses,  they  move  out  on  the  open 
between  them ;  if  they  are  in  a  dense  wood,  they  feed 
along  its  edges  ;  but,  by  preference,  they  keep  in  the 
little  glades  and  among  the  bushes  underneath  the  trees. 
Wherever  they  may  be  found,  they  are  rarely  far  from 
thick  cover,  and  are  always  on  the  alert,  lifting  up  their 
heads  every  few  bites  they  take  to  see  if  any  danger 
threatens  them.  But,  unlike  the  antelope,  they  seem  to 
rely  for  safety  even  more  upon  escaping  observation  than 
upon  discovering  danger  while  it  is  still  far  off,  and  so  are 
usually  in  sheltered  places  where  they  cannot  be  seen  at 
any  distance.  Hence,  shots  at  them  are  generally  ob- 
tained, if  obtained  at  all,  at  very  much  closer  range 
than  at  any  other  kind  of  game  ;  the  average  distance 
would  be  nearer  fifty  than  a  hundred  yards.  On  the 
other  hand,  more  of  the  shots  obtained  are  running 
ones  than  is  the  case  with  the  same  number  taken  at 
antelope  or  black-tail. 

If  the  deer  is  standing  just  out  of  a  fair-sized  wood,  it 
can  often  be  obtained  by  creeping  up  along  the  edge  ;  if 
seen  among  the  large  trees,  it  is  even  more  easily  still- 
hunted,  as  a  tree  trunk  can  be  readily  kept  in  line  with  the 
quarry,  and  thus  prevent  its  suspecting  any  approach.  But 
only  a  few  white-tail  are  killed  by  regular  and  careful  stalk- 
ing ;  in  much  the  greater  number  of  instances  the  hunter 
simply  beats  patiently  and  noiselessly  from  the  leeward, 
carefully  through  the  clumps  of  trees  and  bushes,  always 
prepared  to  see  his  game,  and  with  his  rifle  at  the 
ready.  Sooner  or  later,  as  he  steals  round  a  corner, 


Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms.        113 

he  either  sees  the  motionless  form  of  a  deer,  not  a 
great  distance  off,  regarding  him  intently  for  a  moment 
before  taking  flight ;  or  else  he  hears  a  sudden  crash, 
and  catches  a  glimpse  of  the  animal  as  it  lopes  into  the 
bushes.  In  either  case,  he  must  shoot  quick  ;  but  the  shot 
is  a  close  one. 

If  he  is  heard  or  seen  a  long  way  off,  the  deer  is  very 
apt,  instead  of  running  away  at  full  speed,  to  skulk  off 
quietly  through  the  bushes.  But  when  suddenly  startled, 
the  white-tail  makes  off  at  a  great  rate,  at  a  rolling  gallop, 
the  long,  broad  tail,  pure  white,  held  up  in  the  air.  In 
the  dark  or  in  thick  woods,  often  all  that  can  be  seen  is  the 
flash  of  white  from  the  tail.  The  head  is  carried  low  and 
well  forward  in  running  ;  a  buck,  when  passing  swiftly 
through  thick  underbrush,  usually  throws  his  horns  back 
almost  on  his  shoulders,  with  his  nose  held  straight  in 
front.  White-tail  venison  is,  in  season,  most  delicious 
eating,  only  inferior  to  the  mutton  of  the  mountain 
sheep. 

Among  the  places  which  are  most  certain  to  con- 
tain white-tails  may  be  mentioned  the  tracts  of  swampy 
ground  covered  with  willows  and  the  like,  which  are  to  be 
found  in  a  few  (and  but  a  few)  localities  through  the 
plains  country ;  there  are,  for  example,  several  such 
along  the  Powder  River,  just  below  where  the  Little 
Powder  empties  into  it.  Here  there  is  a  dense  growth 
of  slim-stemmed  young  trees,  sometimes  almost  impene- 
trable, and  in  other  places  opening  out  into  what  seem 
like  arched  passage-ways,  through  which  a  man  must  at 
times  go  almost  on  all  fours.  The  ground  may  be  cov- 


n4        Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms. 

ered  with  rank  shrubbery,  or  it  may  be  bare  mud  with 
patches  of  tall  reeds.  Here  and  there,  scattered  through 
these  swamps,  are  pools  of  water,  and  sluggish  ditches 
occasionally  cut  their  way  deep  below  the  surface  of  the 
muddy  soil.  Game  trails  are  abundant  all  through  them, 
and  now  and  then  there  is  a  large  path  beaten  out  by 
the  cattle ;  while  at  intervals  there  are  glades  and  open- 
ings. A  horse  must  be  very  careful  in  going  through 
such  a  swamp  or  he  will  certainly  get  mired,  and  even 
a  man  must  be  cautious  about  his  footing.  In  the 
morning  or  late  afternoon  a  man  stands  a  good  chance 
of  killing  deer  in  such  a  place,  if  he  hunts  care- 
fully through  it.  It  is  comparatively  easy  to  make  but 
little  noise  in  the  mud  and  among  the  wet,  yielding 
swamp  plants  ;  and  by  moving  cautiously  along  the  trails 
and  through  the  openings,  one  can  see  some  little  dis- 
tance ahead  ;  and  toward  evening  the  pools  should  be 
visited,  and  the  borders  as  far  back  as  possible  carefully 
examined,  for  any  deer  that  come  to  drink,  and  the 
glades  should  be  searched  through  for  any  that  may  be 
feeding.  In  the  soft  mud,  too,  a  fresh  track  can  be 
followed  as  readily  as  if  in  snow,  and  without  exposing 
the  hunter  to  such  probability  of  detection.  If  a  shot 
is  obtained  at  all,  it  is  at  such  close  quarters  as  to  more 
than  counterbalance  the  dimness  of  the  light,  and  to 
render  the  chance  of  a  miss  very  unlikely.  Such  hunt- 
ing is  for  a  change  very  pleasant,  the  perfect  stillness  of 
the  place,  the  quiet  with  which  one  has  to  move,  and 
the  constant  expectation  of  seeing  game  keeping  one's 
nerves  always  on  the  stretch  ;  but  after  a  while  it  grows 


Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms.        us 

tedious,  and  it  makes  a  man  feel  cramped  to  be  always 
ducking  and  crawling  through  such  places.  It  is  not  to 
be  compared,  in  cool  weather,  with  still-hunting  on  the 
open  hills  ;  nevertheless,  in  the  furious  heat  of  the  sum- 
mer sun  it  has  its  advantages,  for  it  is  not  often  so 
oppressingly  hot  in  the  swamp  as  it  is  on  the  open 
prairie  or  in  the  dry  thickets. 

The  white-tail  is  the  only  kind  of  large  game  for  which 
the  shot-gun  can  occasionally  be  used.  At  times  in  the 
dense  brush  it  is  seen,  if  seen  at  all,  at  such  short  dis- 
tances, and  the  shots  have  to  be  taken  so  hurriedly,  that 
the  shot-gun  is  really  the  best  weapon  wherewith  to 
attempt  its  death.  One  method  of  taking  it  is  to 
have  trained  dogs  hunt  through  a  valley  and  drive  the 
deer  to  guns  stationed  at  the  opposite  end.  With  a 
single  slow  hound,  given  to  baying,  a  hunter  can  often 
follow  the  deer  on  foot  in  the  method  adapted  in  most 
of  the  Eastern  States  for  the  capture  of  both  the  gray 
and  the  red  fox.  If  the  dog  is  slow  and  noisy  the  deer 
will  play  round  in  circles  and  can  be  cut  off  and  shot 
from  a  stand.  Any  dog  will  soon  put  a  deer  out  of  a 
thicket,  or  drive  it  down  a  valley ;  but  without  a  dog  it 
is  often  difficult  to  drive  deer  toward  the  runaway  or 
place  at  which  the  guns  are  stationed,  for  the  white-tail 
will  often  skulk  round  and  round  a  thicket  instead  of 
putting  out  of  it  when  a  man  enters  ;  and  even  when 
started  it  may  break  back  past  the  driver  instead  of  going 
toward  the  guns. 

In  all  these  habits  white-tail  are  the  very  reverse  of 
such  game  as  antelope.  Antelope  care  nothing  at  all 


n6        Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms. 

about  being  seen,  and  indeed  rather  court  observation, 
while  the  chief  anxiety  of  a  white-tail  is  to  go  unob- 
served. In  passing  through  a  country  where  there  are 
antelope,  it  is  almost  impossible  not  to  see  them ;  while 
where  there  are  an  equal  number  of  white-tail,  the  odds  are 
manifold  against  travellers  catching  a  glimpse  of  a  single 
individual.  The  prong-horn  is  perfectly  indifferent  as  to 
whether  the  pursuer  sees  him,  so  long  as  in  his  turn  he 
is  able  to  see  the  pursuer  ;  and  he  relies  entirely  upon 
his  speed  and  wariness  for  his  safety  ;  he  never  trusts 
for  a  moment  to  eluding  observation.  White-tail  on  the 
contrary  rely  almost  exclusively  either  upon  lying  per- 
fectly still  and  letting  the  danger  pass  by,  or  else  upon 
skulking  off  so  slyly  as  to  be  unobserved ;  it  is  only 
when  hard  pressed  or  suddenly  startled  that  they  bound 
boldly  and  freely  away. 

In  many  of  the  dense  jungles  without  any  opening 
the  brush  is  higher  than  a  man's  head,  and  one  has 
then  practically  no  chance  at  all  of  getting  a  shot  on 
foot  when  crossing  through  such  places.  But  I  have 
known  instances  where  a  man  had  himself  driven  in  a 
tall  light  wagon  through  a  place  like  this,  and  got 
several  snap  shots  at  the  deer,  as  he  caught  momentary 
glimpses  of  them  stealing  off  through  the  underbrush  ; 
and  another  method  of  pursuit  in  these  jungles  is  occa- 
sionally followed  by  one  of  my  foremen,  who,  mounted 
on  a  quiet  horse,  which  will  stand  fire,  pushes  through 
the  bushes  and  now  and  then  gets  a  quick  shot  at  a 
deer  from  horseback.  I  have  tried  this  method  myself, 
but  without  success,  for  though  my  hunting-horse,  old 


Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms.         l*1 

Manitou,  stands  as  steady  as  a  rock,  yet  I  find  it  im- 
possible to  shoot  the  rifle  with  any  degree  of  accuracy 
from  the  saddle. 

Except  on  such  occasions  as  those  just  mentioned, 
the  white-tail  is  rarely  killed  while  hunting  on  horse- 
back. This  last  term,  by-the-way,  must  not  be  under- 
stood in  the  sense  in  which  it  would  be  taken  by  the 
fox-hunter  of  the  South,  or  by  the  Calif ornian  and  Texan 
horsemen  who  course  hare,  antelope,  and  wild  turkey 
with  their  fleet  greyhounds.  With  us  hunting  on  horse- 
back simply  means  that  the  horse  is  ridden  not  only  to 
the  hunting  grounds,  but  also  through  them,  until  the 
game  is  discovered  ;  then  the  hunter  immediately  dis- 
mounts, shooting  at  once  if  the  animal  is  near  enough 
and  has  seen  him,  or  stalking  up  to  it  on  foot  if 
it  is  a  good  distance  off  and  he  is  still  unobserved. 
Where  great  stretches  of  country  have  to  be  covered, 
as  in  antelope  shooting,  hunting  on  horseback  is  almost 
the  only  way  followed  ;  but  the  haunts  and  habits  of 
the  white-tail  deer  render  it  nearly  useless  to  try  to  kill 
them  in  this  way,  as  the  horse  would  be  sure  to  alarm 
them  by  making  a  noise,  and  even  if  he  did  not  there 
would  hardly  be  time  to  dismount  and  take  a  snap  shot. 
Only  once  have  I  ever  killed  a  white-tail  buck  while  hunt- 
ing on  horseback ;  and  at  that  time  I  had  been  expect- 
ing to  fall  in  with  black-tail. 

This  was  while  we  had  been  making  a  wagon  trip  to 
the  westward,  following  the  old  Keogh  trail,  which  was 
made  by  the  heavy  army  wagons  that  journeyed  to  Fort 
Keogh  in  the  old  days  when  the  soldiers  were,  except  a 


n  8        Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms. 

few  daring  trappers,  the  only  white  men  to  be  seen  on  the 
last  great  hunting-ground  of  the  Indians.  It  was  aban- 
doned as  a  military  route  several  years  ago,  and  is  now 
only  rarely  travelled  over,  either  by  the  canvas-topped 
ranch-wagon  of  some  wandering  cattle-men — like  our- 
selves,— or  else  by  a  small  party  of  emigrants,  in  two 
or  three  prairie  schooners,  which  contain  all  their  house- 
hold goods.  Nevertheless,  it  is  still  as  plain  and  distinct 
as  ever.  The  two  deep  parallel  ruts,  cut  into  the  sod  by 
the  wheels  of  the  heavy  wagon,  stretch  for  scores  of 
miles  in  a  straight  line  across  the  level  prairie,  and 
take  great  turns  and  doublings  to  avoid  the  impassable 
portions  of  the  Bad  Lands.  The  track  is  always  per- 
fectly plain,  for  in  the  dry  climate  of  the  western  plains 
the  action  of  the  weather  tends  to  preserve  rather  than  to 
obliterate  it ;  where  it  leads  downhill,  the  snow  water  has 
cut  and  widened  the  ruts  into  deep  gullies,  so  that  a 
wagon  has  at  those  places  to  travel  alongside  the  road. 
From  any  little  rising  in  the  prairie  the  road  can  be 
seen,  a  long  way  off,  as  a  dark  line,  which,  when  near,  re- 
solves itself  into  two  sharply  defined  parallel  cuts.  Such 
a  road  is  a  great  convenience  as  a  landmark.  When 
travelling  along  it,  or  one  like  it,  the  hunters  can  sep- 
arate in  all  directions,  and  no  matter  how  long  or  how  far 
they  hunt,  there  is  never  the  least  difficulty  about  finding 
camp.  For  the  general  direction  in  which  the  road  lies, 
is,  of  course,  kept  in  mind,  and  it  can  be  reached  whether 
the  sun  is  down  or  not ;  then  a  glance  tells  if  the 
wagon  has  passed,  and  all  that  remains  to  be  done  is  to 
gallop  along  the  trail  until  camp  is  found 


Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms.         119 

On  the  trip  in  question  we  had  at  first  very  bad 
weather.  Leaving  the  ranch  in  the  morning,  two  of  us, 
who  were  mounted,  pushed  on  ahead  to  hunt,  the  wagon 
following  slowly,  with  a  couple  of  spare  saddle  ponies  lead- 
ing behind  it.  Early  in  the  afternoon,  while  riding  ovef 
the  crest  of  a  great  divide,  which  separates  the  drainage 
basins  of  two  important  creeks,  we  saw  that  a  tremendous 
storm  was  brewing  with  that  marvellous  rapidity  which  is 
so  marked  a  characteristic  of  weather  changes  on  the 
plains.  A  towering  mass  of  clouds  gathered  in  the 
northwest,  turning  that  whole  quarter  of  the  sky  to  an 
inky  blackness.  From  there  the  storm  rolled  down 
toward  us  at  a  furious  speed,  obscuring  by  degrees  the 
light  of  the  sun,  and  extending  its  wings  toward  each 
side,  as  if  to  overlap  any  that  tried  to  avoid  its  path. 
Against  the  dark  background  of  the  mass  could  be  seen 
pillars  and  clouds  of  gray  mist,  whirled  hither  and  thither 
by  the  wind,  and  sheets  of  level  rain  driven  before  it. 
The  edges  of  the  wings  tossed  to  and  fro,  and  the  wind 
shrieked  and  moaned  as  it  swept  over  the  prairie.  It 
was  a  storm  of  unusual  intensity ;  the  prairie  fowl  rose 
in  flocks  from  before  it,  scudding  with  spread  wings 
toward  the  thickest  cover,  and  the  herds  of  antelope  ran 
across  the  plain  like  race-horses  to  gather  in  the  hollows 
and  behind  the  low  ridges. 

We  spurred  hard  to  get  out  of  the  open,  riding  with 
loose  reins  for  the  creek.  The  centre  of  the  storm 
swept  by  behind  us,  fairly  across  our  track,  and  we 
only  got  a  wipe  from  the  tail  of  it.  Yet  this  itself 
we  could  not  have  faced  in  the  open.  The  first  gust 


120        Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms. 

caught  us  a  few  hundred  yards  from  the  creek,  almost 
taking  us  from  the  saddle,  and  driving  the  rain  and 
hail  in  stinging  level  sheets  against  us.  We  galloped 
to  the  edge  of  a  deep  wash-out,  scrambled  into  it  at  the 
risk  of  our  necks,  and  huddled  up  with  our  horses  under- 
neath the  windward  bank.  Here  we  remained  pretty 
well  sheltered  until  the  storm  was  over.  Although  it  was 
August,  the  air  became  very  cold.  The  wagon  was  fairly 
caught,  and  would  have  been  blown  over  if  the  top  had 
been  on ;  the  driver  and  horses  escaped  without  injury, 
pressing  under  the  leeward  side,  the  storm  coming  so 
level  that  they  did  not  need  a  roof  to  protect  them  from 
the  hail.  Where  the  centre  of  the  whirlwind  struck  it 
did  great  damage,  sheets  of  hailstones  as  large  as  pigeons' 
eggs  striking  the  earth  with  the  velocity  of  bullets ;  next 
day  the  hailstones  could  have  been  gathered  up  by  the 
bushel  from  the  heaps  that  lay  in  the  bottom  of  the 
gullies  and  ravines.  One  of  my  cowboys  was  out  in  the 
storm,  during  whose  continuance  he  crouched  under  his 
horse's  belly ;  coming  home  he  came  across  some  ante- 
lope so  numb  and  stiffened  that  they  could  barely  limp 
out  of  the  way. 

Near  my  ranch  the  hail  killed  quite  a  number  of  lambs. 
These  were  the  miserable  remnants  of  a  flock  of  twelve 
thousand  sheep  driven  into  the  Bad  Lands  a  year  before, 
four  fifths  of  whom  had  died  during  the  first  winter,  to 
the  delight  of  all  the  neighboring  cattle-men.  Cattle-men 
hate  sheep,  because  they  eat  the  grass  so  close  that  cattle 
cannot  live  on  the  same  ground  The  sheep-herders  are 
a  morose,  melancholy  set  of  men,  generally  afoot,  and 


Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms.        121 

with  no  companionship  except  that  of  the  bleating  idiots 
they  are  hired  to  guard.  No  man  can  associate  with  sheep 
and  retain  his  self-respect.  Intellectually  a  sheep  is  about 
on  the  lowest  level  of  the  brute  creation ;  why  the  early 
Christians  admired  it,  whether  young  or  old,  is  to  a  good 
cattle-man  always  a  profound  mystery. 

The  wagon  came  on  to  the  creek,  along  whose  banks 
we  had  taken  shelter,  and  we  then  went  into  camp.  It 
rained  all  night,  and  there  was  a  thick  mist,  with  con- 
tinual sharp  showers,  all  the  next  day  and  night.  The 
wheeling  was,  in  consequence,  very  heavy,  and  after 
striking  the  Keogh  trail  we  were  able  to  go  along  it 
but  a  few  miles  before  the  fagged-out  look  of  the  team 
and  the  approach  of  evening  warned  us  that  we  should 
have  to  go  into  camp  while  still  a  dozen  miles  from  any 
pool  or  spring.  Accordingly  we  made  what  would  have 
been  a  dry  camp  had  it  not  been  for  the  incessant  down- 
pour of  rain,  which  we  gathered  in  the  canvas  wagon- 
sheet  and  in  our  oilskin  overcoats  in  sufficient  quantity 
to  make  coffee,  having  with  infinite  difficulty  started  a 
smouldering  fire  just  to  leeward  of  the  wagon.  The 
horses,  feeding  on  the  soaked  grass,  did  not  need  water. 
An  antelope,  with  the  bold  and  heedless  curiosity  some- 
times shown  by  its  tribe,  came  up  within  two  hundred 
yards  of  us  as  we  were  building  the  fire ;  but  though  one 
of  us  took  a  shot  at  him,  it  missed.  Our  shaps  and  oil- 
skins had  kept  us  perfectly  dry,  and  as  soon  as  our  frugal 
supper  was  over,  we  coiled  up  among  the  boxes  and 
bundles  inside  the  wagon  and  slept  soundly  till  day- 
break. 


Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms. 

When  the  sun  rose  next  day,  the  third  we  were  out, 
the  sky  was  clear,  and  we  two  horsemen  at  once  pre- 
pared to  make  a  hunt.  Some  three  miles  off  to  the  south 
of  where  we  were  camped,  the  plateau  on  which  we  were 
sloped  off  into  a  great  expanse  of  broken  ground,  with 
chains  upon  chains  of  steep  hills,  separated  by  deep  val- 
leys, winding  and  branching  in  every  direction,  their  bot- 
toms filled  with  trees  and  brushwood.  Toward  this  place 
we  rode,  intending  to  go  into  it  some  little  distance,  and 
then  to  hunt  along  through  it  near  the  edge.  As  soon  as 
we  got  down  near  the  brushy  ravine  we  rode  along  with- 
out talking,  guiding  the  horses  as  far  as  possible  on 
earthy  places,  where  they  would  neither  stumble  nor 
strike  their  feet  against  stones,  and  not  letting  our  rifle- 
barrels  or  spurs  clink  against  any  thing.  Keeping  out- 
side of  the  brush,  a  little  up  the  side  of  the  hill,  one  of  us 
would  ride  along  each  side  of  the  ravine,  examining 
intently  with  our  eyes  every  clump  of  trees  or  brushwood. 
For  some  time  we  saw  nothing,  but,  finally,  as  we  were 
riding  both  together  round  the  jutting  spur  of  a  steep 
hill,  my  companion  suddenly  brought  his  horse  to  a  halt, 
and  pointing  across  the  shelving  bend  to  a  patch  of  trees 
well  up  on  the  opposite  side  of  a  broad  ravine,  asked  me 
if  I  did  not  see  a  deer  in  it.  I  was  off  the  horse  in  a 
second,  throwing  the  reins  over  his  head.  We  were  in 
the  shadow  of  the  cliff-shoulder,  and  with  the  wind  in  our 
favor ;  so  we  were  unlikely  to  be  observed  by  the  game. 
I  looked  long  and  eagerly  toward  the  spot  indicated, 
which  was  about  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  yards  from 
us,  but  at  first  could  see  nothing.  By  this  time,  however, 


Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms. 

the  experienced  plainsman  who  was  with  me  was  satisfied 
that  he  was  right  in  his  supposition,  and  he  told  me  to 
try  again  and  look  for  a  patch  of  red.  I  saw  the  patch  at 
once,  just  glimmering  through  the  bushes,  but  should 
certainly  never  have  dreamed  it  was  a  deer  if  left  to  my- 
self. Watching  it  attentively  I  soon  saw  it  move  enough 
to  satisfy  me  where  the  head  lay  ;  kneeling  on  one  knee 
and  (as  it  was  a  little  beyond  point-blank  range)  holding 
at  the  top  of  the  portion  visible,  I  pulled  trigger,  and  the 
bright-colored  patch  disappeared  from  among  the  bushes. 
The  aim  was  a  good  one,  for,  on  riding  up  to  the  brink 
of  the  ravine,  we  saw  a  fine  white-tail  buck  lying  below 
us,  shot  through  just  behind  the  shoulder ;  he  was  still  in 
the  red  coat,  with  his  antlers  in  the  velvet. 

A  deer  is  far  from  being  such  an  easy  animal  to  see  as 
the  novice  is  apt  to  suppose.  Until  the  middle  of  Septem- 
ber he  is  in  the  red  coat ;  after  that  time  he  is  in  the  gray ; 
but  it  is  curious  how  each  one  harmonizes  in  tint  with 
certain  of  the  surroundings.  A  red  doe  lying  down  is,  at  a 
little  distance,  undistinguishable  from  the  soil  on  which 
she  is  ;  while  a  buck  in  the  gray  can  hardly  be  made  out  in 
dead  timber.  While  feeding  quietly  or  standing  still,  they 
rarely  show  the  proud,  free  port  we  are  accustomed  to  as- 
sociate with  the  idea  of  a  buck,  and  look  rather  ordinary, 
humble-seeming  animals,  not  at  all  conspicuous  or  likely 
to  attract  the  hunter's  attention  ;  but  once  let  them  be 
frightened,  and  as  they  stand  facing  the  danger,  or  bound 
away  from  it,  their  graceful  movements  and  lordly  bear- 
ing leave  nothing  to  be  desired.  The  black-tail  is  a  still 
nobler-looking  animal  ;  while  an  antelope,  on  the  con- 


124        Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms. 

trary,  though  as  light  and  quick  on  its  feet  as  is  possible 
for  any  animal  not  possessing  wings  to  be,  yet  has  an 
angular,  goat-like  look,  and  by  no  means  conveys  to  the 
beholder  the  same  idea  of  grace  that  a  deer  does. 

In  coming  home,  on  this  wagon  trip,  we  made  a  long 
moonlight  ride,  passing  over  between  sunset  and  sunrise 
what  had  taken  us  three  days'  journey  on  the  outward 
march.  Of  our  riding  horses,  two  were  still  in  good  con- 
dition and  well  able  to  stand  a  twenty-four  hours'  jaunt,  in 
spite  of  hard  work  and  rough  usage ;  the  spare  ones,  as 
well  as  the  team,  were  pretty  well  done  up  and  could  get 
along  but  slowly.  All  day  long  we  had  been  riding  beside 
the  wagon  over  barren  sage-brush  plains,  following  the 
dusty  trails  made  by  the  beef-herds  that  had  been  driven 
toward  one  of  the  Montana  shipping  towns. 

When  we  halted  for  the  evening  meal  we  came  near 
learning  by  practical  experience  how  easy  it  is  to  start  a 
prairie  fire.  We  were  camped  by  a  dry  creek  on  a  broad 
bottom  covered  with  thick,  short  grass,  as  dry  as  so  much 
tinder.  We  wished  to  burn  a  good  circle  clear  for  the 
camp  fire ;  lighting  it,  we  stood  round  with  branches  to 
keep  it  under.  While  thus  standing  a  puff  of  wind  struck 
us ;  the  fire  roared  like  a  wild  beast  as  it  darted  up  ;  and 
our  hair  and  eyelashes  were  well  singed  before  we  had 
beaten  it  out.  At  one  time  it  seemed  as  if,  though  but  a 
very  few  feet  in  extent,  it  would  actually  get  away  from  us  ; 
in  which  case  the  whole  bottom  would  have  been  a  blazing 
furnace  within  five  minutes. 

After  supper,  looking  at  the  worn-out  condition  of  the 
team,  we  realized  that  it  would  take  three  more  days 


Deer  of  the  River  Bottoms.         125 

travelling  at  the  rate  we  had  been  going  to  bring  us  in,  and 
as  the  country  was  monotonous,  without  much  game,  we 
concluded  we  would  leave  the  wagon  with  the  driver,  and 
taking  advantage  of  the  full  moon,  push  through  the  whole 
distance  before  breakfast  next  morning.  Accordingly,  we 
at  nine  o'clock  again  saddled  the  tough  little  ponies  we 
had  ridden  all  day  and  loped  off  out  of  the  circle  of  fire- 
light. For  nine  hours  we  rode  steadily,  generally  at  a 
quick  lope,  across  the  moon-lit  prairie.  The  hoof-beats 
of  our  horses  rang  out  in  steady  rhythm  through  the 
silence  of  the  night,  otherwise  unbroken  save  now  and 
then  by  the  wailing  cry  of  a  coyote.  The  rolling  plains 
stretched  out  on  all  sides  of  us,  shimmering  in  the  clear 
moonlight ;  and  occasionally  a  band  of  spectral-looking 
antelope  swept  silently  away  from  before  our  path.  Once 
we  went  by  a  drove  of  Texan  cattle,  who  stared  wildly  at 
the  intruders ;  as  we  passed  they  charged  down  by  us,  the 
ground  rumbling  beneath  their  tread,  while  their  long 
horns  knocked  against  each  other  with  a  sound  like  the 
clattering  of  a  multitude  of  castanets.  We  could  see 
clearly  enough  to  keep  our  general  course  over  the  track- 
less plain,  steering  by  the  stars  where  the  prairie  was  per- 
fectly level  and  without  landmarks  ;  and  our  ride  was  timed 
well,  for  as  we  galloped  down  into  the  valley  of  the  Little 
Missouri  the  sky  above  the  line  of  level  bluffs  in  our  front 
was  crimson  with  the  glow  of  the  unrisen  sun. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE  BLACK-TAIL  DEER. 


AR  different  from  the  low- 
scudding,  brush-loving 
white-tail,  is  the  black-tail 
deer,  the  deer  of  the  ra- 
vines and  the  rocky  up- 
lands. In  general  shape 
and  form,  both  are  much 
alike ;  but  the  black-tail  is 
the  larger  of  the  two,  with  heavier  antlers,  of  which  the 
prongs  start  from  one  another,  as  if  each  of  the  tines  of 
a  two-pronged  pitchfork  had  bifurcated ;  and  in  some 
cases  it  looks  as  if  the  process  had  been  again  re- 
peated. The  tail,  instead  of  being  broad  and  bushy 
as  a  squirrel's,  spreading  from  the  base,  and  pure  white 
to  the  tip,  is  round  and  close  haired,  with  the  end  black, 
though  the  rest  is  white.  If  an  ordinary  deer  is  run- 
ning, its  flaunting  flag  is  almost  its  most  conspicuous 
part ;  but  no  one  would  notice  the  tail  of  a  black-tail 
deer. 

126 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  127 

All  deer  vary  greatly  in  size ;  and  a  small  black-tail 
buck  will  be  surpassed  in  bulk  by  many  white-tails  ;  but 
the  latter  never  reaches  the  weight  and  height  some- 
times attained  by  the  former.  The  same  holds  true  of 
the  antlers  borne  by  the  two  animals ;  on  the  average 
those  of  the  black-tail  are  the  heavier,  and  exceptionally 
large  antlers  of  this  species  are  larger  than  any  of  the 
white-tail.  Bucks  of  both  kinds  very  often  have,  when 
full-grown,  more  than  the  normal  number  of  ten  points; 
sometimes  these  many-pronged  antlers  will  be  merely 
deformities,  while  in  other  instances  the  points  are  more 
symmetrical,  and  add  greatly  to  the  beauty  and  grandeur 
of  the  head.  The  venison  of  the  black-tail  is  said  to 
be  inferior  in  quality  to  that  of  the  white-tail ;  but  I 
have  never  been  able  to  detect  much  difference,  though, 
perhaps,  on  the  whole,  the  latter  is  slightly  better. 

The  gaits  of  the  two  animals  are  widely  different. 
The  white-tail  runs  at  a  rolling  gallop,  striking  the 
ground  with  the  forward  feet  first,  the  head  held  for- 
ward. The  black-tail,  on  the  contrary,  holds  its  head 
higher  up,  and  progresses  by  a  series  of  prodigious 
bounds,  striking  the  earth  with  all  four  feet  at  once, 
the  legs  held  nearly  stiff.  It  seems  like  an  extraordinary 
method  of  running;  and  the  violent  exertion  tires  the 
deer  sooner  than  does  the  more  easy  and  natural  gait 
of  the  white-tail ;  but  for  a  mile  or  so  these  rapidly 
succeeding  bounds  enable  the  black-tail  to  get  over  the 
ground  at  remarkable  speed.  Over  rough  ground,  along 
precipitous  slopes,  and  among  the  boulders  of  rocky 
cliffs,  it  will  go  with  surprising  rapidity  and  surefooted- 


128  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

ness,  only  surpassed  by  the  feats  of  the  big-horn  in 
similar  localities,  and  not  equalled  by-trvu^  of  any  other 
plains  game. 

One  of  the  noticeable  things  in  western  plains  hunting 
is  the  different  zones  or  bands  of  territory  inhabited  by 
different  kinds  of  game.  Along  the  alluvial  land  of  the 
rivers  and  large  creeks  is  found  the  white-tail.  Back  of 
these  alluvial  lands  generally  comes  a  broad  tract  of 
broken,  hilly  country,  scantily  clad  with  brush  in  some 
places;  this  is  the  abode  of  the  black-tail  deer.  And 
where  these  hills  rise  highest,  and  where  the  ground  is 
most  rugged  and  barren,  there  the  big-horn  is  found. 
After  this  hilly  country  is  passed,  in  travelling  away 
from  the  river,  we  come  to  the  broad,  level  plains,  the 
domain  of  the  antelope.  Of  course  the  habitats  of  the 
different  species  overlap  at  the  edges;  and  this  over- 
lapping is  most  extended  in  the  cases  of  the  big-horn 
and  the  black-tail. 

The  Bad  Lands  are  the  favorite  haunts  of  the  black- 
tail.  Here  the  hills  are  steep  and  rugged,  cut  up  and 
crossed  in  every  direction  by  canyon-like  ravines  and  val- 
leys, which  branch  out  and  subdivide  in  the  most  intri- 
cate and  perplexing  manner.  Here  and  there  are  small 
springs,  or  pools,  marked  by  the  greener  vegetation 
growing  round  them.  Along  the  bottoms  and  sides  of 
the  ravines  there  are  patches  of  scrubby  undergrowth, 
and  in  many  of  the  pockets  or  glens  in  the  sides  of  the 
hills  the  trees  grow  to  some  little  height.  High  buttes 
rise  here  and  there,  naked  to  the  top,  or  else  covered  with 
stunted  pines  and  cedars,  which  also  grow  in  the  deep 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  129 

ravines  and  on  the  edges  of  the  sheer  canyons.  Such 
lands,  where  the  ground  is  roughest,  and  where  there  is 
some  cover,  even  though  scattered  and  scanty,  are  the 
best  places  to  find  the  black-tail.  Naturally  their  pursuit 
needs  very  different  qualities  in  the  hunter  from  those 
required  in  the  chase  of  the  white-tail.  In  the  latter  case 
stealth  and  caution  are  the  prime  requisites ;  while  the 
man  who  would  hunt  and  kill  the  deer  of  the  uplands  has 
more  especial  need  of  energy,  activity,  and  endurance,  of 
good  judgment  and  of  skill  with  the  rifle.  Hunting  the 
black-tail  is  beyond  all  comparison  the  nobler  sport.  In- 
deed, there  is  no  kind  of  plains  hunting,  except  only  the 
chase  of  the  big-horn,  more  fitted  to  bring  out  the  best 
and  hardiest  of  the  many  qualities  which  go  to  make  up  a 
good  hunter. 

It  is  still  a  moot  question  whether  it  is  better  to  hunt 
on  horseback  or  on  foot ;  but  the  course  of  events  is  rap- 
idly deciding  it  in  favor  of  the  latter  method.  Undoubt- 
edly it  is  easier  and  pleasanter  to  hunt  on  horseback ; 
ind  it  has  the  advantage  of  covering  a  great  deal  of 
ground.  But  it  is  impossible  to  advance  with  such  cau- 
tion, and  it  is  difficult  to  shoot  as  quickly,  as  when  on 
foot ;  and  where  the  deer  are  shy  and  not  very  plenty, 
the  most  enthusiastic  must,  slowly  and  reluctantly  but 
surely,  come  to  the  conclusion  that  a  large  bag  can  only 
be  made  by  the  still-hunter  who  goes  on  foot.  Of 
course,  in  the  plains  country  it  is  not  as  in  mountainous 
or  thickly  wooded  regions,  and  the  horse  should  almost 
always  be  taken  as  a  means  of  conveyance  to  the  hunting- 
grounds  and  from  one  point  to  another ;  but  the  places 


130  Tke  Black-Tail  Deer. 

where  game  is  expected  should,  as  a  rule,  be  hunted  over 
on  foot.     This  rule  is  by  no  means  a  general  one,  how- 
ever.    There  are  still  many  localities  where  the  advan- 
tage  of  covering  a  great   deal    of    ground    more   than 
counterbalances  the  disadvantage  of  being  on  horseback. 
About  one  third  of  my  hunts  are  still  made  on  horse- 
back ;  and  in  almost  all  the  others  I  take  old  Manitou  to 
carry  me  to  and  from  the  grounds  and  to  pack  out  any 
game  that  may  be  killed.     A  hunting-horse  is  of  no  use 
whatever  unless  he  will  permit  a  man  to  jump  from  his 
back  and  fire  with  the  greatest  rapidity ;   and  nowhere 
does  practice  have  more  to  do  with  success  than  in  the 
case  of  jumping  off  a  horse  to  shoot  at  game  which  has 
just  been  seen.     The  various  movements  take  a  novice  a 
good  deal  of  time ;  while  an  old  hand  will  be  off  and 
firing  with  the  most  instantaneous  quickness.     Manitou 
can  be  left  anywhere  at  a  moment's  warning^  while  his 
rider  leaps  off,  shoots  at  a  deer  from  almost  under  his 
head,  and  perhaps  chases  the  wounded  animal  a  mile  or 
over ;  and  on  his  return  the  good  old  fellow  will  be  graz- 
ing away,  perfectly  happy  and  contented,  and  not  making 
a  movement  to  run  off  or  evade  being  caught. 

One  method  of  killing  deer  on  horseback  is  very  excit- 
ing. Many  of  the  valleys  or  ravines  extend  with  continual 
abrupt  turns  and  windings  for  several  miles,  the  brush 
and  young  trees  stretching  with  constant  breaks  down  the 
middle  of  the  bottom,  and  leaving  a  space  on  each  side 
along  which  a  surefooted  horse  can  gallop  at  speed. 
Two  men,  on  swift,  hardy  horses,  can  hunt  down  such  a 
ravine  very  successfully  at  evening,  by  each  taking  a  side 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  131 

and  galloping  at  a  good  speed  the  whole  length  against 
the  wind.     The  patter  of  the  unshod  hoofs  over  the  turf 
makes  but  little  noise ;  and  the  turns  are  so  numerous  and 
abrupt,  and  the  horses  go  so  swiftly,  that  the  hunters 
come  on  the  deer  almost  before  the  latter  are  aware  of  their 
presence.     If  it  is  so  late  in  the  day  that  the  deer  have 
begun  to  move  they  will  find  the  horses  close  up  before 
they  have  a  suspicion  of  danger,  while  if  they  are  still 
lying  in  the  cover  the  suddenness  of  the  appearance  of 
their  foe  is  apt  to  so  startle  them  as  to  make  them  break 
out  and  show  themselves  instead  of  keeping  hid,  as  they 
would  probably  do  if  they  perceived  the  approach  from 
afar.     One  thus  gets  a  close  running  shot,  or  if  he  waits 
a  minute  he  will  generally  get  a  standing  shot  at  some 
little  distance,  owing  to  a  very  characteristic  habit  of  the 
black-tail.     This  is  its  custom  of  turning  round,  apparently 
actuated  simply  by  curiosity,  to  look  at  the  object  which 
startled  it,  after  it  has  run  off  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards  or 
so.     It  then  stands  motionless  for  a  few  seconds,  and  offers 
a  chance  for  a  steady  shot.     If  the  chance  is  not  improved, 
no  other  will  offer,  for  as  soon  as  the  deer  has  ended  its 
scrutiny  it  is  off  again,  and  this  time  will  not  halt  till  well 
out  of  danger.     Owing  to  its  singular  gait,  a  succession  of 
buck  jumps,  the  black-tail  is  a  peculiarly  difficult  animal  to 
hit  while  on  the  run  ;  and  it  is  best  to  wait  until  it  stops 
and  turns  before  taking  the  shot,  as  if  fired  at,  the  report 
will  generally  so  alarm  it  as  to  make  it  continue  its  course 
without  halting  to  look  back.       Some  of  the  finest  antlers 
in  my  possession  come  from  bucks  killed  by  this  method 
of  hunting ;  and  it  is  a  most  exhilarating  form  of  sport, 


is2  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

the  horse  galloping  rapidly  over  what  is  often  very  broken 
ground,  and  the  senses  being  continually  on  the  alert  for 
any  sign  of  game.  The  rush  and  motion  of  the  horse, 
and  the  care  necessary  to  guide  it  and  at  the  same  time 
be  in  constant  readiness  for  a  shot,  prevent  the  chase  having 
any  of  the  monotony  that  is  at  times  inseparable  from 
still-hunting  proper. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  by  still-hunting  that  most  deer  are 
killed,  and  the  highest  form  of  hunting  craft  is  shown  in 
the  science  of  the  skilful  still-hunter.  With  sufficient 
practice  any  man  who  possesses  common-sense  and  is  both 
hardy  and  persevering  can  become,  to  a  certain  extent,  a 
still-hunter.  But  the  really  good  still-hunter  is  born  rather 
than  made ;  though  of  course  in  addition  to  possessing  the 
gifts  naturally  he  must  also  have  developed  them,  by  con- 
stant practice,  to  the  highest  point  possible.  One  of  the 
foremen  on  my  ranch  is  a  really  remarkably  good  hunter 
and  game  shot,  and  another  does  almost  as  well ;  but  the 
rest  of  us  are  not,  and  never  will  be,  any  thing  very  much 
out  of  the  common.  By  dint  of  practice  we  have  learned 
to  shoot  as  well  at  game  as  at  a  target ;  and  those  of  us 
who  are  fond  of  the  sport  hunt  continually  and  so  get  a 
good  deal  of  game  at  one  time  or  another.  Hunting 
through  good  localities,  up  wind,  quietly  and  persever- 
ingly,  we  come  upon  quite  a  number  of  animals ;  and  we 
can  kill  a  standing  shot  at  a  fair  distance  and  a  running 
shot  close  up,  and  by  good  luck  every  now  and  then  kill 
far  off;  but  to  much  more  than  is  implied  in  the  description 
of  such  modest  feats  we  cannot  pretend. 

After  the  disappearance  of  the  buffalo  and  the  thin- 


The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

ning  out  of  the  elk,  the  black-tail  was,  and  in  most  places 
it  still  is,  the  game  most  sought  after  by  the  hunters  ;  I 
have  myself  shot  as  many  of  them  as  of  all  other  kinds  of 
plains  game  put  together.  But  for  this  very  reason  it  is 
fast  disappearing ;  and  bids  fair  to  be  the  next  animal, 
after  the  buffalo  and  elk,  to  vanish  from  the  places  that 
formerly  knew  it.  The  big-horn  and  the  prong-horn  are 
more  difficult  to  stalk  and  kill,  partly  from  their  greater 
natural  wariness,  and  partly  from  the  kind  of  ground  on 
which  they  are  found.  But  it  seems  at  first  sight  strange 
that  the  black-tail  should  be  exterminated  or  driven  away 
so  much  more  quickly  than  the  white-tail,  when  it  has 
sharper  ears  and  nose,  is  more  tenacious  of  life,  and  is 
more  wary.  The  main  reason  is  to  be  found  in  the  differ- 
ence in  the  character  of  the  haunts  of  the  two  creatures. 
The  black-tail  is  found  on  much  more  open  ground,  where 
the  animals  can  be  seen  farther  off,  where  it  is  much  easier 
to  take  advantage  of  the  direction  of  the  wind  and  to  get 
along  without  noise,  and  where  far  more  country  can  be 
traversed  in  a  given  time  ;  and  though  the  average  length 
of  the  shots  taken  is  in  one  case  two  or  three  times  as 
great  as  in  the  other,  yet  this  is  more  than  counterbal- 
anced by  the  fact  that  they  are  more  often  standing  ones, 
and  that  there  is  usually  much  more  time  for  aiming. 
Moreover,  one  kind  of  sport  can  be  followed  on  horseback, 
while  the  other  must  be  followed  on  foot ;  and  then  the 
chase  of  the  white-tail,  in  addition,  is  by  far  the  more 
tedious  and  patience-trying.  And  the  black-tail  are  much 
the  more  easily  scared  or  driven  out  of  a  locality  by  perse- 
cution or  by  the  encroaching  settlements.  All  these  quali- 


134  The  Black-Tail  Deer, 

ties  combine  to  make  it  less  able  to  hold  its  own  against 
mankind  than  its  smaller  rival.  It  is  the  favorite  game  of  the 
skin  hunters  and  meat  hunters,  and  has,  in  consequence, 
already  disappeared  from  many  places,  while  in  others  its 
extermination  is  going  on  at  a  frightfully  rapid  rate,  ow- 
ing to  its  being  followed  in  season  and  out  of  season 
without  mercy.  Besides,  the  cattle  are  very  fond  of  just 
the  places  to  which  it  most  often  resorts  ;  and  wherever 
cattle  go  the  cowboys  ride  about  after  them,  with  their 
ready  six-shooters  at  their  hips.  They  blaze  away  at 
any  deer  they  see,  of  course,  and  in  addition  to  now  and 
then  killing  or  wounding  one,  continually  harry  and  dis- 
turb the  poor  animals.  In  the  more  remote  and  inacces- 
sible districts  the  black-tail  will  long  hold  its  own,  to  be 
one  of  the  animals  whose  successful  pursuit  will  redound 
most  to  the  glory  of  the  still-hunter ;  but  in  a  very  few 
years  it  will  have  ceased  entirely  to  be  one  of  the  com- 
mon game  animals  of  the  plains. 

Its  great  curiosity  is  one  of  the  disadvantages  under 
which  it  labors  in  the  fierce  struggle  for  existence,  com- 
pared to  the  white-tail.  The  latter,  when  startled,  does 
not  often  stop  to  look  round ;  but,  as  already  said,  the 
former  will  generally  do  so  after  having  gone  a  few  hun- 
dred feet.  The  first  black-tail  I  ever  killed — unfortunately 
killed,  for  the  body  was  not  found  until  spoiled — was  ob- 
tained owing  solely  to  this  peculiarity.  I  had  been  riding 
up  along  the  side  of  a  brushy  coulie,  when  a  fine  buck 
started  out  some  thirty  yards  ahead.  Although  so  close, 
my  first  shot,  a  running  one,  was  a  miss  ;  when  a  couple 
of  hundred  yards  off,  on  the  very  crest  of  the  spur  up 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  135 

which  he  had  run,  he  stopped  and  turned  partially  round. 
Firing  again  from  a  rest,  the  bullet  broke  his  hind  leg  far 
up  and  went  into  his  body.  Off  he  went  on  three  legs, 
and  I  after  him  as  fast  as  the  horse  could  gallop.  He 
went  over  the  spur  and  down  into  the  valley  of  the  creek 
from  which  the  coulie  branched  up,  in  very  bad  ground. 
My  pony  was  neither  fast  nor  surefooted,  but  of  course 
in  half  a  mile  overhauled  the  three-legged  deer,  which 
turned  short  off  and  over  the  side  of  the  hill  flanking  the 
valley.  Instead  of  running  right  up  on  it  I  foolishly  dis- 
mounted and  began  firing  ;  after  the  first  shot— a  miss — 
it  got  behind  a  boulder  hitherto  unseen,  and  thence  over 
the  crest.  The  pony  meanwhile  had  slipped  its  hind  leg 
into  the  rein  ;  when,  after  some  time,  I  got  it  out  and  gal- 
loped up  to  the  ridge,  the  most  careful  scrutiny  of  which 
my  unpractised  eyes  were  capable  failed  to  discover  a 
track  on  the  dry  ground,  hard  as  granite.  A  day  or  two 
afterwards  the  place  where  the  carcass  lay  was  made 
known  by  the  vultures,  gathered  together  from  all  parts 
to  feed  upon  it. 

When  fired  at  from  a  place  of  hiding,  deer  which 
have  not  been  accustomed  to  the  report  of  a  gun  will 
often  appear  confused  and  uncertain  what  to  do.  On 
one  occasion,  while  hunting  in  the  mountains,  I  saw  an 
old  buck  with  remarkably  large  horns,  of  curious  and 
beautiful  shape,  more  symmetrical  than  in  most  instances 
where  the  normal  form  is  departed  from.  The  deer  was 
feeding  in  a  wide,  gently  sloping  valley,  containing  no 
cover  from  behind  which  to  approach  him.  We  were 
in  no  need  of  meat,  but  the  antlers  were  so  fine  that  I 


136  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

felt  they  justified  the  death  of  their  bearer.  After  a 
little  patient  waiting,  the  buck  walked  out  of  the  valley, 
and  over  the  ridge  on  the  other  side,  moving  up  wind ; 
I  raced  after  him,  and  crept  up  behind  a  thick  growth 
of  stunted  cedars,  which  had  started  up  from  among  some 
boulders.  The  deer  was  about  a  hundred  yards  off, 
down  in  the  valley.  Out  of  breath,  and  over-confident, 
I  fired  hastily,  overshooting  him.  The  wind  blew  the 
smoke  back  away  from  the  ridge,  so  that  he  saw  nothing, 
while  the  echo  prevented  his  placing  the  sound.  He 
took  a  couple  of  jumps  nearer,  when  he  stood  still  and 
was  again  overshot.  Again  he  took  a  few  jumps,  and 
the  third  shot  went  below  him ;  and  the  fourth  just 
behind  him.  This  was  too  much,  and  away  he  went. 
In  despair  I  knelt  down  (I  had  been  firing  off-hand), 
took  a  steady  aim  well-forward  on  his  body,  and 
fired,  bringing  him  down,  but  with  small  credit  to  the 
shot,  for  the  bullet  had  gone  into  his  hip,  paralyzing 
his  hind-quarters.  The  antlers  are  the  finest  pair  I  ever 
got,  and  form  a  magnificent  ornament  for  the  hall ;  but 
the  shooting  is  hardly  to  be  recalled  with  pleasure. 
Still,  though  certainly  very  bad,  it  was  not  quite  as 
discreditable  as  the  mere  target  shot  would  think.  I 
have  seen  many  a  crack  marksman  at  the  target  do 
quite  as  bad  missing  when  out  in  the  field,  and  that 
not  once,  but  again  and  again. 

Of  course,  in  those  parts  of  the  wilderness  where 
the  black-tail  are  entirely  unused  to  man,  they  are  as 
easy  to  approach  (from  the  leeward  side)  as  is  any  and 
every  other  kind  of  game  under  like  conditions.  In 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  137 

f 

lonely  spots,  to  which  hunters  rarely  or  never  penetrate, 
deer  of  this  species  will  stand  and  look  at  a  hunter 
without  offering  to  run  away  till  he  is  within  fifty  yards 
of  them,  if  he  will  advance  quietly.  In  a  far-off  moun- 
tain forest  I  have  more  than  once  shot  a  young  buck 
at  less  than  that  distance  as  he  stood  motionless,  gazing 
at  me,  although  but  little  caution  had  been  used  in 
approaching  him. 

But  a  short  experience  of  danger  on  the  part  of  the 
black-tail  changes  all  this ;  and  where  hunters  are  often 
afoot,  he  becomes  as  wild  and  wary  as  may  be.  Then 
the  successful  still-hunter  shows  that  he  is  indeed  well 
up  in  the  higher  forms  of  hunting  craft.  For  the  man 
who  can,  not  once  by  accident,  but  again  and  again,  as 
a  regular  thing,  single-handed,  find  and  kill  his  black- 
tail,  has  shown  that  he  is  no  mere  novice  in  his  art; 
still-hunting  the  black-tail  is  a  sport  that  only  the  skilful 
can  follow  with  good  results,  and  one  which  implies 
in  the  successful  sportsman  the  presence  of  most  of  the 
still-hunter's  rarest  attributes.  All  of  the  qualities  which 
a  still-hunter  should  possess  are  of  service  in  the  pur- 
suit of  any  kind  of  game ;  but  different  ones  will  be 
called  into  especial  play  in  hunting  different  kinds  of 
animals.  Thus,  to  be  a  successful  hunter  after  any  thing, 
a  man  should  be  patient,  resolute,  hardy,  and  with  good 
judgment ;  he  should  have  good  lungs  and  stout  muscles ; 
he  should  be  able  to  move  with  noiseless  stealth ;  and 
he  should  be  keen-eyed,  and  a  first-rate  marksman  with 
the  rifle.  But  in  different  kinds  of  shooting,  the  relative 
importance  of  these  qualities  varies  greatly.  In  hunting 


138  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

white-tail  deer,  the  two  prime  requisites  are  stealth  and 
patience.  If  the  quarry  is  a  big-horn,  a  man  needs 
especially  to  be  sound  in  wind  and  limbs,  and  to  be 
both  hardy  and  resolute.  Skill  in  the  use  of  the  long- 
range  rifle  counts  for  more  in  antelope  hunting  than  in 
any  other  form  of  sport ;  and  it  is  in  this  kind  of  hunt- 
ing alone  that  good  marksmanship  is  more  important 
than  any  thing  else.  With  dangerous  game,  cool  and 
steady  nerves  are  of  the  first  consequence ;  all  else 
comes  after.  Then,  again,  in  the  use  of  the  rifle,  the 
kind  of  skill — not  merely  the  degree  of  skill — required 
to  hunt  different  animals  may  vary  greatly.  In  shooting 
white-tail,  it  is  especially  necessary  to  be  a  good  snap 
shot  at  running  game ;  when  the  distance  is  close,  quick- 
ness is  an  essential.  But  at  antelope  there  is  plenty  of 
time,  and  what  is  necessary  is  ability  to  judge  distance, 
and  capacity  to  hit  a  small  stationary  object  at  long 
range. 

The  different  degrees  of  estimation  in  which  the  chase 
of  the  various  kinds  of  plains  game  is  held  depend  less 
upon  the  difficulty  of  capture  than  upon  the  nature  of  the 
qualities  in  the  hunter  which  each  particular  form  of 
hunting  calls  into  play.  A  man  who  is  hardy,  resolute, 
and  a  good  shot,  has  come  nearer  to  realizing  the  ideal  of 
a  bold  and  free  hunter  than  is  the  case  with  one  who  is 
merely  stealthy  and  patient ;  and  so,  though  to  kill  a 
white-tail  is  rather  more  difficult  than  to  kill  a  black-tail, 
yet  the  chase  of  the  latter  is  certainly  the  nobler  form  of 
sport,  for  it  calls  into  play,  and  either  develops  or  im- 
plies the  presence  of,  much  more  manly  qualities  than 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  J39 

does  the  other.  Most  hunters  would  find  it  nearly  as 
difficult  to  watch  in  silence  by  a  salt-lick  throughout  the 
night,  and  then  to  butcher  with  a  shot-gun  a  white-tail,  as 
it  would  be  to  walk  on  foot  through  rough  ground  from 
morning  till  evening,  and  to  fairly  approach  and  kill  a 
black-tail ;  yet  there  is  no  comparison  between  the  degree 
of  credit  to  be  attached  to  one  feat  and  that  to  be  at- 
tached to  the  other.  Indeed,  if  difficulty  in  killing  is  to 
be  taken  as  a  criterion,  a  mink  or  even  a  weasel  would 
have  to  stand  as  high  up  in  the  scale  as  a  deer,  were  the 
animals  equally  plenty. 

Ranged  in  the  order  of  the  difficulty  with  which  they 
are  approached  and  slain,  plains  game  stand  as  follows : 
big-horn,  antelope,  white-tail,  black-tail,  elk,  and  buffalo. 
But,  as  regards  the  amount  of  manly  sport  furnished  by 
the  chase  of  each,  the  white-tail  should  stand  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  list,  and  the  elk  and  black-tail  abreast  of  the 
antelope. 

Other  things  being  equal,  the  length  of  an  animal's 
stay  in  the  land,  when  the  arch  foe  of  all  lower  forms  of 
animal  life  has  made  his  appearance  therein,  depends 
upon  the  difficulty  with  which  he  is  hunted  and  slain. 
But  other  influences  have  to  be  taken  into  account.  The 
big-horn  is  shy  and  retiring ;  very  few,  compared  to  the 
whole  number,  will  be  killed ;  and  yet  the  others  vanish 
completely.  Apparently  they  will  not  remain  where  they 
are  hunted  and  disturbed.  With  antelope  and  white-tail 
this  does  not  hold ;  they  will  cling  to  a  place  far  more 
tenaciously,  even  if  often  harassed.  The  former  being 
the  more  conspicuous,  and  living  in  such  open  ground,  is 


140  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

apt  to  be  more  persecuted  ;  while  the  white-tail,  longer 
than  any  other  animal,  keeps  its  place  in  the  land  in  spite 
of  the  swinish  game  butchers,  who  hunt  for  hides  and  not 
for  sport  or  actual  food,  and  who  murder  the  gravid  doe 
and  the  spotted  fawn  with  as  little  hesitation  as  they 
would  kill  a  buck  of  ten  points.  No  one  who  is  not  him- 
self a  sportsman  and  lover  of  nature  can  realize  the  intense 
indignation  with  which  a  true  hunter  sees  these  butchers 
at  their  brutal  work  of  slaughtering  the  game,  in  season 
and  out,  for  the  sake  of  the  few  dollars  they  are  too  lazy 
to  earn  in  any  other  and  more  honest  way. 

All  game  animals  rely  upon  both  eyes,  ears,  and  nose 
to  warn  them  of  the  approach  of  danger ;  but  the  amount 
of  reliance  placed  on  each  sense  varies  greatly  in  different 
species.  Those  found  out  on  the  plains  pay  very  little 
attention  to  what  they  hear ;  indeed,  in  the  open  they 
can  hardly  be  approached  near  enough  to  make  of  much 
account  any  ordinary  amount  of  noise  caused  by  the 
stalker,  especially  as  the  latter  is  walking  over  little  but 
grass  and  soft  earth.  The  buffalo,  whose  shaggy  frontlet 
of  hair  falls  over  his  eyes  and  prevents  his  seeing  at  any 
great  distance,  depends  mainly  upon  his  exquisite  sense 
of  smell.  The  antelope,  on  the  other  hand,  depends 
almost  entirely  on  his  great,  bulging  eyes,  and  very  little 
on  his  nose.  His  sight  is  many  times  as  good  as  that  of 
deer,  both  species  of  which,  as  well  as  elk,  rely  both  upon 
sight  and  hearing,  but  most  of  all  upon  their  sense  of 
smell,  for  their  safety.  The  big-horn  has  almost  as  keen 
eyesight  as  an  antelope,  while  his  ears  and  nose  are  as 
sensitive  to  sound  and  scent  as  are  those  of  an  elk. 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  14* 

Black-tail,  like  other  members  of  the  deer  family,  do 
not  pay  much  attention  to  an  object  which  is  not  moving. 
A  hunter  who  is  standing  motionless  or  squatting  down 
is  not  likely  to  receive  attention,  while  a  big-horn  or 
prong-horn  would  probably  see  him  and  take  the  alarm  at 
once ;  and  if  the  black-tail  is  frightened  and  running  he 
will  run  almost  over  a  man  standing  in  plain  sight,  without 
paying  any  heed  to  him,  if  the  latter  does  not  move.  But 
the  very  slightest  movement  at  once  attracts  a  deer's 
attention,  and  deer  are  not  subject  to  the  panics  that  at 
times  overtake  other  kinds  of  game.  The  black-tail  has 
much  curiosity,  which  often  proves  fatal  to  it ;  but  which 
with  it  is  after  all  by  no  means  the  ungovernable  passion 
that  it  is  with  antelope.  The  white-tail  and  the  big-horn 
are  neither  over-afflicted  with  morbid  curiosity,  nor  subject 
to  panics  or  fits  of  stupidity ;  and  both  these  animals,  as 
well  as  the  black-tail,  seem  to  care  very  little  for  the  death 
of  the  leader  of  the  band,  going  their  own  ways  with  small 
regard  for  the  fate  of  the  chief,  while  elk  will  huddle 
together  in  a  confused  group,  and  remain  almost  motion- 
less when  their  leader  is  struck  down.  Antelope  and 
more  especially  elk  are  subject  to  perfect  panics  of  unrea- 
soning terror,  during  which  they  will  often  put  themselves 
completely  in  the  power  of  the  hunter ;  while  buffalo  will 
frequently  show  a  downright  stupidity  almost  unequalled. 

The  black-tail  suffers  from  no  such  peculiarities.  His 
eyes  are  good ;  his  nose  and  ears  excellent.  He  is  ever 
alert  and  wary;  his  only  failing  is  his  occasional  over- 
curiosity  ;  and  his  pursuit  taxes  to  the  utmost  the  skill  and 
resources  of  the  still-hunter. 


H2  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

By  all  means  the  best  coverings  for  the  feet  when  still- 
hunting  are  moccasins,  as  with  them  a  man  can  go  noise- 
lessly through  ground  where  hobnailed  boots  would  clatter 
like  the  hoofs  of  a  horse ;  but  in  hunting  in  winter  over 
the  icy  buttes  and  cliffs  it  is  best  to  have  stout  shoes,  with 
nails  in  the  soles,  and  if  the  main  work  is  done  on  horse- 
back it  is  best  to  wear  high  boots,  as  they  keep  the 
trousers  down.  Indeed  in  the  Bad  Lands  boots  have  other 
advantages,  for  rattlesnakes  abound,  and  against  these 
they  afford  perfect  protection — unless  a  man  should  happen 
to  stumble  on  a  snake  while  crawling  along  on  all  fours. 
But  moccasins  are  beyond  all  comparison  the  best  foot- 
gear for  hunting.  In  very  cold  weather  a  fur  cap  which 
can  be  pulled  down  over  the  ears  is  a  necessity ;  but  at  other 
times  a  brimmed  felt  hat  offers  better  protection  against 
both  sun  and  rain.  The  clothes  should  be  of  some  neutral 
tint — buckskin  is  on  this  account  excellent — and  very 
strong. 

The  still-hunter  should  be  well  acquainted  with,  at  any 
rate,  certain  of  the  habits  of  his  quarry.  There  are  seasons 
when  the  black-tail  is  found  in  bands ;  such  is  apt  to  be 
the  case  when  the  rutting  time  is  over.  At  this  period, 
too,  the  deer  wander  far  and  wide,  making  what  may 
almost  be  called  a  migration ;  and  in  rutting  time  the  bucks 
follow  the  does  at  speed  for  miles  at  a  stretch.  But  except 
at  these  seasons  each  individual  black-tail  has  a  certain 
limited  tract  of  country  to  which  he  confines  himself  unless 
disturbed  or  driven  away,  not,  of  course,  keeping  in  the 
same  spot  all  the  time,  but  working  round  among  a  par- 
ticular set  of  ravines  and  coulies,  where  the  feed  is  good, 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  H3 

and  where  water  can  be  obtained  without  going  too  far 
out  of  the  immediate  neighborhood. 

Throughout  the  plains  country  the  black-tail  lives  in 
the  broken  ground,  seldom  coming  down  to  the  alluvial 
bottoms  or  out  on  the  open  prairies  and  plateaus.  But 
he  is  found  all  through  this  broken  ground.  Sometimes 
it  is  rolling  in  character  with  rounded  hills  and  gentle  val- 
leys, dotted  here  and  there  with  groves  of  trees  ;  or  the 
hills  may  rise  into  high  chains,  covered  with  an  open  pine 
forest,  sending  off  long  spurs  and  divided  by  deep  valleys 
and  basins.  Such  places  are  favorite  resorts  of  this  deer  ; 
but  it  is  as  plentiful  in  the  Bad  Lands  proper.  There  are 
tracts  of  these  which  are  in  part  or  wholly  of  volcanic 
origin ;  then  the  hills  are  called  scoria  buttes.  They  are 
high  and  very  steep,  but  with  rounded  tops  and  edges,  and 
are  covered,  as  is  the  ground  round  about,  with  scoriae 
boulders.  Bushes,  and  sometimes  a  few  cedar,  grow 
among  them,  and  though  they  would  seem  to  be  most  un- 
likely places  for  deer,  yet  black-tail  are  very  fond  of  them, 
and  are  very  apt  to  be  found  among  them.  Often  in  the 
cold  fall  mornings  they  will  lie  out  among  the  boulders,  on 
the  steep  side  of  such  a  scoria  butte,  sunning  themselves,  far 
from  any  cover  except  a  growth  of  brushwood  in  the  bottom 
of  the  dry  creeks  or  coulies.  The  grass  on  top  of  and 
between  these  scoria  buttes  is  often  very  nutritious,  and 
cattle  are  also  fond  of  it.  The  higher  buttes  are  choice 
haunts  of  the  mountain  sheep. 

Nineteen  twentieths  of  the  Bad  Lands,  however,  owe 
their  origin  not  to  volcanic  action  but  to  erosion  and  to 
the  peculiar  weathering  forces  always  at  work  in  the 


144  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

dry  climate  of  the  plains.  Geologically  the  land  is  for 
the  most  part  composed  of  a  set  of  parallel,  perfectly 
horizontal  strata,  of  clay,  marl,  or  sandstone,  which,  being 
of  different  degrees  of  hardness,  offer  some  more  and  some 
less  resistance  to  the  action  of  the  weather.  The  table- 
lands, peaks,  cliffs,  and  jagged  ridges  are  caused  solely  by 
the  rains  and  torrents  cutting  away  the  land  into  channels, 
which  at  first  are  merely  wash-outs,  and  at  last  grow  into 
deep  canyons,  winding  valleys,  and  narrow  ravines  or 
basins.  The  sides  of  these  cuts  are  at  first  perpendicular, 
exposing  to  view  the  various  bands  of  soil,  perhaps  of  a 
dozen  different  colors  ;  the  hardest  bands  resist  the  action 
of  the  weather  best  and  form  narrow  ledges  stretching 
along  the  face  of  the  cliff.  Peaks  of  the  most  fantastic 
shape  are  formed  in  this  manner ;  and  where  a  ridge  is 
worn  away  on  each  side  its  crest  may  be  as  sharp  as  a  knife 
blade,  but  all  notched  and  jagged.  The  peaks  and. ridges 
vary  in  height  from  a  few  feet  to  several  hundred  ;  the 
sides  of  the  buttes  are  generally  worn  down  in  places  so  as 
to  be  steeply  sloping  instead  of  perpendicular.  The  long 
wash-outs  and  the  canyons  and  canyon-like  valleys  stretch 
and  branch  out  in  every  direction  ;  the  dryness  of  the 
atmosphere,  the  extremes  of  intense  heat  and  bitter  cold, 
and  the  occasional  furious  rain-storms  keep  the  edges  and 
angles  sharp  and  jagged,  and  pile  up  boulders  and  masses 
of  loose  detritus  at  the  foot  of  the  cliffs  and  great  lonely 
crags.  Sometimes  the  valleys  are  quite  broad,  with  steep 
sides  and  with  numerous  pockets,  separated  by  spurs  jutting 
out  into  the  bottom  from  the  lateral  ridges.  Other  ravines 
or  clefts  taper  down  to  a  ditch,  a  foot  or  so  wide,  from 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  145 

which  the  banks  rise  at  an  angle  of  sixty  degrees  to  the 
tops  of  the  enclosing  ridges. 

The  faces  of  the  terraced  cliffs  and  sheer  crags  are  bare 
of  all  but  the  scantiest  vegetation,  and  where  the  Bad  Lands 
are  most  rugged  and  broken  the  big-horn  is  the  only  game 
found.  But  in  most  places  the  tops  of  the  buttes,  the  sides 
of  the  slopes,  and  the  bottoms  of  the  valleys  are  more  or 
less  thickly  covered  with  the  nutritious  grass  which  is  the 
favorite  food  of  the  black-tail. 

Of  course,  the  Bad  Lands  grade  all  the  way  from  those 
that  are  almost  rolling  in  character  to  those  that  are  so 
fantastically  broken  in  form  and  so  bizarre  in  color  as  to 
seem  hardly  properly  to  belong  to  this  earth.  If  the 
weathering  forces  have  not  been  very  active,  the  ground 
will  look,  from  a  little  distance,  almost  like  a  level  plain, 
but  on  approaching  nearer,  it  will  be  seen  to  be  crossed  by 
straight-sided  gullies  and  canyons,  miles  in  length,  cutting 
across  the  land  in  every  direction  and  rendering  it  almost 
impassable  for  horsemen  or  wagon-teams.  If  the  forces  at 
work  have  been  more  intense,  the  walls  between  the  dif- 
ferent gullies  have  been  .cut  down  to  thin  edges,  or  broken 
through,  leaving  isolated  peaks  of  strange  shape,  while 
the  hollows  have  been  channelled  out  deeper  and  deeper ; 
such  places  show  the  extreme  and  most  characteristic  Bad 
Lands  formation.  When  the  weathering  has  gone  on 
further,  the  angles  are  rounded  off,  grass  begins  to 
grow,  bushes  and  patches  of  small  trees  sprout  up, 
water  is  found  in  places,  and  the  still  very  rugged 
country  becomes  the  favorite  abode  of  the  black-tail. 

During  the  daytime,  these  deer  lie    quietly  in  their 


146  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

beds,  which  are  sometimes  in  the  brush  and  among  the 
matted  bushes  in  the  bottoms  of  the  small  branching 
coulies,  or  heads  of  the  crooked  ravines.  More  often 
they  will  be  found  in  the  thickets  of  stunted  cedars 
clothing  the  brinks  of  the  canyons  or  the  precipitous 
slopes  of  the  great  chasms  into  which  the  ground  is  cleft 
and  rent ;  or  else  among  the  groves  of  gnarled  pines  on 
the  sides  of  the  buttes,  and  in  the  basins  and  pockets  be- 
tween the  spurs.  If  the  country  is  not  much  hunted  over, 
a  buck  or  old  doe  will  often  take  its  mid-day  rest  out  in  the 
open,  lying  down  among  the  long  grass  or  shrubbery  on 
one  of  the  bare  benches  at  the  head  of  a  ravine,  at  the 
edge  of  the  dense  brush  with  which  its  bottom  and  sides 
are  covered.  In  such  a  case,  a  position  is  always  chosen 
from  which  a  look-out  can  be  kept  all  around  ;  and  the 
moment  any  suspicious  object  is  seen,  the  deer  slips  off 
into  the  thicket  below  him.  Perhaps  the  favorite  resting- 
places  are  the  rounded  edges  of  the  gorges,  just  before 
the  sides  of  the  latter  break  sheer  off.  Here  the  deer 
lies,  usually  among  a  few  straggling  pines  or  cedars,  on  the 
very  edge  of  the  straight  side-wall  of  the  canyon,  with  a 
steep-shelving  slope  above  him,  so  that  he  cannot  be  seen 
from  the  summit ;  and  in  such  places  it  is  next  to  impos- 
sible to  get  at  him.  If  lying  on  a  cedar-grown  spur  or 
ridge-point,  the  still-hunter  has  a  better  chance,  for  the 
evergreen  needles  with  which  the  ground  is  covered  enable 
a  man  to  walk  noiselessly,  and,  by  stooping  or  going  on 
all  fours,  he  can  keep  under  the  branches.  But  it  is  at  all 
times  hard  and  unsatisfactory  work  to  find  and  success- 
fully still-hunt  a  deer  that  is  enjoying  its  day  rest.  Gen- 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  H7 

erally,  the  only  result  is  to  find  the  warm,  fresh  bed  from 
which  the  deer  has  just  sneaked  off,  the  blades  of  grass 
still  slowly  rising,  after  the  hasty  departure  of  the  weight 
that  has  flattened  them  down ;  or  else,  if  in  dense  cover, 
the  hunter  suddenly  hears  a  scramble,  a  couple  of  crashing 
bounds  through  the  twigs  and  dead  limbs,  and  gets  a 
momentary  glimpse  of  a  dark  outline  vanishing  into  the 
thicket  as  the  sole  reward  of  his  labor.  Almost  the  only 
way  to  successfully  still-hunt  a  deer  in  the  middle  of  the 
day,  is  to  find  its  trail  and  follow  it  up  to  the  resting- 
places,  and  such  a  feat  needs  an  expert  tracker  and  a 
noiseless  and  most  skilful  stalker. 

The  black-tail  prefers  to  live  in  the  neighborhood  of 
water,  where  he  can  get  it  every  twenty-four  hours  ;  but 
he  is  perfectly  willing  to  drink  only  every  other  day,  if,  as 
is  often  the  case,  he  happens  to  be  in  a  very  dry  locality. 
Nor  does  he  stay  long  in  the  water  or  near  it,  like  the 
white-tail,  but  moves  off  as  soon  as  he  is  no  longer  thirsty. 
On  moonlight  nights  he  feeds  a  good  deal  of  the  time, 
and  before  dawn  he  is  always  on  foot  for  his  breakfast ; 
the  hours  around  daybreak  are  those  in  which  most  of  his 
grazing  is  done.  By  the  time  the  sun  has  been  up  an 
hour  he  is  on  his  way  homeward,  grazing  as  he  goes  ;  and 
he  will  often  stay  for  some  little  time  longer,  if  there  has 
been  no  disturbance  from  man  or  other  foes,  feeding 
among  the  scattered  scrub  cedars  skirting  the  thicket  in 
which  he  intends  to  make  his  bed  for  the  day.  Having 
once  made  his  bed  he  crouches  very  close  in  it,  and  is 
difficult  to  put  up  during  the  heat  of  the  day  ;  but  as  the 
afternoon  wears  on  he  becomes  more  restless,  and  will 


148  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

break  from  his  bed  and  bound  off  at  much  smaller  provo- 
cation, while  if  the  place  is  lonely  he  will  wander  out  into 
the  open  hours  before  sunset.  If,  however,  he  is  in 
much  danger  of  being  molested,  he  will  keep  close  to  his 
hiding-place  until  nearly  nightfall,  when  he  ventures  out 
to  feed.  Owing  to  the  lateness  of  his  evening  appearance 
in  localities  where  there  is  much  hunting,  it  is  a  safer  plan 
to  follow  him  in  the  early  morning,  being  on  the  ground 
and  ready  to  start  out  by  the  time  the  first  streak  of  dawn 
appears.  Often  I  have  lost  deer  when  riding  home  in  the 
evening,  because  the  dusk  had  deepened  so  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  distinguish  clearly  enough  to  shoot. 

One  day  one  of  my  cowboys  and  myself  were  return- 
ing from  an  unsuccessful  hunt,  about  nightfall,  and  were 
still  several  miles  from  the  river,  when  a  couple  of  yearling 
black-tails  jumped  up  in  the  bed  of  the  dry  creek  down 
which  we  were  riding.  Our  horses  though  stout  and  swift 
were  not  well  trained ;  and  the  instant  we  were  off  their 
backs  they  trotted  off.  No  sooner  were  we  on  the  ground 
and  trying  to  sight  the  deer,  one  of  which  was  cantering 
slowly  off  among  the  bushes,  than  we  found  we  could  not 
catch  the  bead  sights  of  our  rifles,  the  outlines  of  the  animals 
seeming  vague,  and  shadowy,  and  confounding  themselves 
with  the  banks  and  dull  green  sage  bushes  behind  them. 
Certainly  six  or  eight  shots  were  fired,  we  doing  our  best 
to  aim,  but  without  any  effect ;  and  when  we  gave  it  up 
and  turned  to  look  for  our  horses  we  were  annoyed  to  see 
the  latter  trotting  off  down  the  valley  half  a  mile  away. 
We  went  after  at  a  round  pace  ;  but  darkness  closed  in 
before  we  had  gained  at  all  on  them.  There  was  nothing 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  149 

left  to  do  but  to  walk  on  down  the  valley  to  the  bottoms, 
and  then  to  wade  the  river  ;  as  the  latter  was  quite  high, 
we  had  to  take  off  our  clothes,  and  it  is  very  uncomfortable 
to  feel  one's  way  across  a  river  at  night,  in  bare  feet,  with 
the  gun  and  the  bundle  of  clothes  held  high  over  head. 
However,  when  across  the  river  and  half  a  mile  from 
home,  we  ran  into  our  horses — a  piece  of  good  luck,  as 
otherwise  we  should  have  had  to  spend  the  next  day  in 
looking  for  them. 

Almost  the  only  way  in  which  it  is  possible  to  aim 
after  dark  is  to  get  the  object  against  the  horizon,  toward 
the  light.  One  of  the  finest  bucks  I  ever  killed  was  shot 
in  this  way.  It  was  some  little  time  after  the  sun  had  set, 
and  I  was  hurrying  home,  riding  down  along  a  winding 
creek  at  a  gallop.  The  middle  of  the  bottom  was  covered 
with  brush,  while  the  steep,  grassy,  rounded  hills  on  each 
side  sent  off  spurs  into  the  valley,  the  part  between  every 
two  spurs  making  a  deep  pocket.  The  horse's  feet  were 
unshod  and  he  made  very  little  noise,  coming  down  against 
the  wind.  While  passing  a  deep  pocket  I  heard  from  within 
it  a  snort  and  stamping  of  feet,  the  well-known  sounds  made 
by  a  startled  deer.  Pulling  up  short  I  jumped  off  the  horse 
— it  was  Manitou, — who  instantly  began  feeding  with  per- 
fect indifference  to  what  he  probably  regarded  as  an  irra- 
tional freak  of  his  master  ;  and,  aiming  as  well  as  I  could  in 
the  gathering  dusk,  held  the  rifle  well  ahead  of  a  shadowy 
gray  object  which  was  scudding  along  the  base  of  the  hill 
towards  the  mouth  of  the  pocket.  The  ball  struck  in 
front  of  and  turned  the  deer,  which  then  started  obliquely 
up  the  hill.  A  second  shot  missed  it ;  and  I  then  (here 


150  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

comes  in  the  good  of  having  a  repeater)  knelt  down  and 
pointed  the  rifle  against  the  sky  line,  at  the  place  where 
the  deer  seemed  likely  to  top  the  bluff.  Immediately  after- 
wards the  buck  appeared,  making  the  last  jump  with  a 
great  effort  which  landed  him  square  on  the  edge,  as 
sharply  outlined  as  a  silhouette  against  the  fading  western 
light.  My  rifle  bead  was  just  above  him  ;  pulling  it  down 
I  fired,  as  the  buck  paused  for  a  second  to  recover  him- 
self from  his  last  great  bound,  and  with  a  crash  the  mighty 
antlered  beast  came  rolling  down  the  hill,  the  bullet  having 
broken  his  back  behind  the  shoulders,  afterwards  going 
out  through  his  chest. 

At  times  a  little  caution  must  be  used  in  approaching 
a  wounded  buck,  for  if  it  is  not  disabled  it  may  be  a  rather 
formidable  antagonist.  In  my  own  experience  I  have 
never  known  a  wounded  buck  to  do  more  than  make  a  pass 
with  his  horns,  or,  in  plunging  when  the  knife  enters  his 
throat,  to  strike  with  his  forefeet.  But  one  of  my  men 
was  regularly  charged  by  a  great  buck,  which  he  had 
wounded,  and  which  was  brought  to  bay  on  the  ice  by  a 
dog.  It  seemed  to  realize  that  the  dog  was  not  the  main 
antagonist,  and  knocking  him  over  charged  straight  past 
him  at  the  man,  and  as  the  latter  had  in  his  haste  not  re- 
loaded his  rifle,  he  might  have  been  seriously  injured  had 
it  not  been  for  the  dog,  a  very  strong  and  plucky  one, 
which  caught  the  buck  by  the  hock  and  threw  him.  The 
buck  got  up  and  again  came  straight  at  his  foe,  uttering  a 
kind  of  grunting  bleat,  and  it  was  not  till  after  quite  a 
scuffle  that  the  man,  by  the  help  of  the  dog,  got  him  down 
and  thrust  the  knife  in  his  throat.  Twice  I  have  known 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  J5i 

hounds  to  be  killed  by  bucks  which  they  had  brought  to 
bay  in  the  rutting  season.  One  of  these  bucks  was  a 
savage  old  fellow  with  great  thick  neck  and  sharp-pointed 
antlers.  He  came  to  bay  in  a  stream,  under  a  bank  thickly 
matted  with  willows  which  grew  down  into  the  water, 
guarding  his  rear  and  flanks,  while  there  was  a  small  pool 
in  his  front  across  which  the  hounds  had  to  swim.  Back- 
ing in  among  the  willows  he  rushed  out  at  every  dog  that 
came  near,  striking  it  under  water  with  his  forefeet,  and 
then  again  retreating  to  his  fortress.  In  this  way  he  kept 
the  whole  pack  off,  and  so  injured  one  hound  that  he  had 
to  be  killed.  Indeed,  a  full-grown  buck  with  antlers 
would  be  a  match  for  a  wolf,  unless  surprised,  and  could 
not  improbably  beat  off  a  cougar  if  he  received  the  latter's 
spring  fairly  on  his  prong  points. 

Bucks  fight  fiercely  among  themselves  during  the  rut- 
ting season.  At  that  time  the  black-tail,  unlike  the  white- 
tail,  is  found  in  bands,  somewhat  like  those  of  the  elk, 
but  much  smaller,  and  the  bucks  of  each  band  keep  up  an 
incessant  warfare.  A  weak  buck  promptly  gets  out  of  the 
way  if  charged  by  a  large  one  ;  but  when  two  of  equal 
strength  come  together  the  battle  is  well  fought.  In- 
stances occasionally  occur,  of  a  pair  of  these  duellists  getting 
their  horns  firmly  interlocked  and  thus  perishing  ;  but  these 
instances  are  much  rarer,  owing  to  the  shape  of  the  antlers, 
than  with  the  white-tail,  of  which  species  I  have  in  my  own 
experience  come  across  two  or  three  sets  of  skulls  held  to- 
gether by  their  interlacing  antlers,  the  bearers  of  which 
had  doubtless  died  owing  to  their  inability  to  break  away 
from  each  other. 


152  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

A  black-tail  buck  is  one  of  the  most  noble-looking  of 
all  deer.  His  branching  and  symmetrically  curved  antlers 
are  set  on  a  small  head,  carried  with  beautiful  poise  by  the 
proud,  massive  neck.  The  body  seems  almost  too  heavy 
for  the  slender  legs,  and  yet  the  latter  bear  it  as  if  they 
were  rods  of  springing  steel.  Every  movement  is  full  of 
alert,  fiery  life  and  grace,  and  he  steps  as  lightly  as  though 
he  hardly  trod  the  earth.  The  large,  sensitive  ears  are 
thrown  forward  to  catch  the  slightest  sound  ;  and  in  the 
buck  they  are  not  too  conspicuous,  though  they  are  the 
only  parts  of  his  frame  which  to  any  eye  can  be  said  to 
take  away  from  his  beauty.  They  give  the  doe  a  some- 
what mulish  look  ;  at  a  distance,  the  head  of  a  doe  peering 
out  from  among  twigs  looks  like  a  great  black  V.  To 
me,  however,  even  in  the  case  of  the  doe,  they  seem  to 
set  off  and  strengthen  by  contrast  the  delicate,  finely- 
moulded  look  of  the  head.  Owing  to  these  ears  the 
species  is  called  in  the  books  the  Mule  Deer,  and  every 
now  and  then  a  plainsman  will  speak  of  it  by  this  title. 
But  all  plainsmen  know  it  generally,  and  ninety-nine  out 
of  a  hundred  know  it  only,  as  the  Black-tail  Deer ;  and  as 
this  is  the  title  by  which  it  is  known  among  all  who  hunt 
it  or  live  near  it,  it  should  certainly  be  called  by  the  same 
name  in  the  books. 

But  though  so  grand  and  striking  an  object  when 
startled,  or  when  excited,  whether  by  curiosity  or  fear, 
love  or  hate,  a  black-tail  is  nevertheless  often  very  hard  to 
make  out  when  standing  motionless  among  the  trees  and 
brushwood,  or  when  lying  down  among  the  boulders.  A 
raw  hand  at  hunting  has  no  idea  how  hard  it  is  to  see  a 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  J53 

deer  when  at  rest.  The  color  of  the  hair  is  gray,  almost 
the  same  tint  as  that  of  the  leafless  branches  and  tree 
trunks ;  for  of  course  the  hunting  season  is  at  its  height 
only  when  the  leaves  have  fallen.  A  deer  standing  motion- 
less looks  black  or  gray,  according  as  the  sunlight  strikes 
it ;  but  always  looks  exactly  the  same  color  as  the  trees 
around  it.  It  generally  stands  or  lies  near  some  tree 
trunks  ;  and  the  eye  may  pass  over  it  once  or  twice  with- 
out recognizing  its  real  nature.  In  the  brush  it  is  still 
more  difficult,  and  there  a  deer's  form  is  often  absolutely 
indistinguishable  from  the  surroundings,  as  one  peers 
through  the  mass  of  interlacing  limbs  and  twigs.  Once 
an  old  hunter  and  myself  in  walking  along  the  ridge  of  a 
scoria  butte  passed  by  without  seeing  them,  three  black- 
tail  lying  among  the  scattered  boulders  of  volcanic  rock  on 
the  hillside,  not  fifty  yards  from  us.  After  a  little  practical 
experience  a  would-be  hunter  learns  not  to  expect  deer 
always,  or  even  generally,  to  appear  as  they  do  when  near 
by  or  suddenly  startled ;  but  on  the  contrary  to  keep  a 
sharp  look-out  on  every  dull-looking  red  or  yellow  patch 
he  sees  in  a  thicket,  and  to  closely  examine  any  grayish- 
looking  object  observed  on  the  hillsides,  for  it  is  just  such 
small  patches  or  obscure-looking  objects  which  are  apt,  if 
incautiously  approached,  to  suddenly  take  to  themselves 
legs,  and  go  bounding  off  at  a  rate  which  takes  them  out 
of  danger  before  the  astonished  tyro  has  really  waked  up 
to  the  fact  that  they  are  deer.  The  first  lesson  to  be 
learned  in  still-hunting  is  the  knowledge  of  how  to  tell 
what  objects  are  and  what  are  not  deer  ;  and  to  learn  it  is 
by  no  means  as  easy  a  task  as  those  who  have  never  tried 
it  would  think. 


154  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

When  he  has  learned  to  see  a  deer,  the  novice  then 
has  to  learn  to  hit  it,  and  this  again  is  not  the  easy  feat  it 
seems.  That  he  can  do  well  with  a  shot-gun  proves  very 
little  as  to  a  man's  skill  with  the  rifle,  for  the  latter  carries 
but  one  bullet,  and  can  therefore  hit  in  but  one  place,  while 
with  a  shot-gun,  if  you  hold  a  foot  off  your  mark  you  will 
be  nearly  as  apt  to  hit  as  if  you  held  plumb  centre.  Nor 
does  mere  practice  at  a  mark  avail,  though  excellent  in  its 
way  ;  for  a  deer  is  never  seen  at  a  fixed  and  ascertained 
distance,  nor  is  its  outline  often  clearly  and  sharply  defined 
as  with  a  target.  Even  if  a  man  keeps  cool — and  for  the 
first  shot  or  two  he  will  probably  be  flurried — he  may  miss 
an  absurdly  easy  shot  by  not  taking  pains.  I  remember 
on  one  occasion  missing  two  shots  in  succession  where 
it  seemed  really  impossible  for  a  man  to  help  hitting.  I 
was  out  hunting  on  horseback  with  one  of  my  men,  and 
on  loping  round  the  corner  of  a  brushy  valley  came  sud- 
denly in  sight  of  a  buck  with  certainly  more  than  a  dozen 
points  on  his  great  spreading  antlers.  I  jumped  off  my 
horse  instantly,  and  fired  as  he  stood  facing  me  not  over 
forty  yards  off;  fired,  as  I  supposed,  perfectly  coolly, 
though  without  dropping  on  my  knee  as  I  should  have 
done.  The  shot  must  have  gone  high,  for  the  buck 
bounded  away  unharmed,  heedless  of  a  second  ball ;  and 
immediately  his  place  was  taken  by  another,  somewhat 
smaller,  who  sprang  out  of  a  thicket  into  almost  the  iden- 
tical place  where  the  big  buck  had  stood.  Again  I  fired 
and  missed  ;  again  the  buck  ran  off,  and  was  shot  at  and 
missed  while  running — all  four  shots  being  taken  within 
fifty  yards.  I  clambered  on  to  the  horse  without  looking 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  J55 

at  my  companion,  but  too  conscious  of  his  smothered  dis- 
favor ;  after  riding  a  few  hundred  yards,  he  said  with 
forced  politeness  and  a  vague  desire  to  offer  some  cheap 
consolation,  that  he  supposed  I  had  done  my  best ;  to 
which  I  responded  with  asperity  that  I  'd  be  damned  if  I 
had;  and  we  finished  our  journey  homeward  in  silence. 
A  man  is  likely  to  overshoot  at  any  distance  ;  but  at  from 
twenty-five  to  seventy-five  yards  he  is  certain  to  do  so  if 
he  is  at  all  careless. 

Moreover,  besides  not  missing,  a  man  must  learn  to  hit 
his  deer  in  the  right  place  ;  the  first  two  or  three  times  he 
shoots  he  will  probably  see  the  whole  deer  in  the  rifle 
sights,  instead  of  just  the  particular  spot  he  wishes  to 
strike  ;  that  is,  he  will  aim  in  a  general  way  at  the  deer's 
whole  body — which  will  probably  result  in  a  wound  not 
disabling  the  animal  in  the  least  for  the  time,  although 
ensuring  its  finally  dying  a  lingering  and  painful  death. 
The  most  instantaneously  fatal  places  are  the  brain  and 
any  part  of  the  spinal  column  ;  but  these  offer  such  small 
marks  that  it  is  usually  only  by  accident  they  are  hit. 
The  mark  at  any  part  of  which  one  can  fire  with  safety  is 
a  patch  about  eight  inches  or  a  foot  square,  including  the 
shoulder-blades,  lungs,  and  heart.  A  kidney-shot  is  very 
fatal ;  but  a  black-tail  will  go  all  day  with  a  bullet  through 
its  entrails,  and  in  cold  weather  I  have  known  one  to  run 
several  miles  with  a  portion  of  its  entrails  sticking  out  of  a 
wound  and  frozen  solid.  To  break  both  shoulders  by  a 
shot  as  the  deer  stands  sideways  to  the  hunter,  brings  the 
buck  down  in  its  tracks  ;  but  perhaps  the  best  place  at 
which  to  aim  is  the  point  in  the  body  right  behind  the 


is6  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

shoulder-blade.  On  receiving  a  bullet  in  this  spot  the 
deer  will  plunge  forward  for  a  jump  or  two,  and  then  go 
some  fifty  yards  in  a  labored  gallop  ;  will  then  stop,  sway 
unsteadily  on  its  legs  for  a  second,  and  pitch  forward  on 
its  side.  When  the  hunter  comes  up  he  will  find  his 
quarry  stone  dead.  If  the  deer  stands  facing  the  hunter 
it  offers  only  a  narrow  mark,  but  either  a  throat  or  chest 
shot  will  be  fatal. 

Good  shooting  is  especially  necessary  after  black-tail, 
because  it  is  so  very  tenacious  of  life ;  much  more  so 
than  the  white-tail,  or,  in  proportion  to  its  bulk,  than  the 
elk.  For  this  reason  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to 
give  an  immediately  fatal  or  disabling  wound,  or  the 
game  will  almost  certainly  be  lost.  It  is  wonderful  to  see 
how  far  and  how  fast  a  seemingly  crippled  deer  will  go. 
Of  course,  a  properly  trained  dog  would  be  of  the  great- 
est use  in  tracking  and  bringing  to  bay  wounded  black- 
tail  ;  but,  unless  properly  trained  to  come  in  to  heel,  a 
dog  is  worse  than  useless ;  and,  anyhow,  it  will  be  hard  to 
keep  one,  as  long  as  the  wolf-hunters  strew  the  ground  so 
plentifully  with  poisoned  bait.  We  have  had  several 
hunting  dogs  on  our  ranch  at  different  times ;  generally 
wirehaired  deer-hounds,  fox-hounds,  or  greyhounds,  by  no 
means  absolutely  pure  in  blood;  but  they  all,  sooner  or 
later,  succumbed  to  the  effects  of  eating  poisoned  meat. 
Some  of  them  were  quite  good  hunting  dogs,  the  rough 
deer-hounds  being  perhaps  the  best  at  following  and 
tackling  a  wounded  buck.  They  were  all  very  eager  for 
the  sport,  and  when  in  the  morning  we  started  out  on  a 
hunt  the  dogs  were  apparently  more  interested  than  the 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  157 

men ;  but  their  judgment  did  not  equal  their  zeal,  and 
lack  of  training  made  them  on  the  whole  more  bother 
than  advantage. 

But  much  more  than  good  shooting  is  necessary 
before  a  man  can  be  called  a  good  hunter.  Indians,  for 
example,  get  a  great  deal  of  game,  but  they  are  in  most 
cases  very  bad  shots.  Once,  while  going  up  the  Clear 
Fork  of  the  Powder,  in  Northern  Wyoming,  one  of  my 
men,  an  excellent  hunter,  and  myself  rode  into  a  large 
camp  of  Cheyennes  ;  and  after  a  while  started  a  shooting- 
match  with  some  of  them.  We  had  several  trials  of  skill 
with  the  rifle,  and,  a  good  deal  to  my  astonishment,  I 
found  that  most  of  the  Indians  (quite  successful  hunters, 
to  judge  by  the  quantity  of  smoked  venison  lying  round) 
were  very  bad  shots  indeed.  None  of  them  came  any- 
where near  the  hunter  who  was  with  me ;  nor,  indeed,  to 
myself.  An  Indian  gets  his  game  by  his  patience,  his 
stealth,  and  his  tireless  perseverance ;  and  a  white  to  be 
really  successful  in  still-hunting  must  learn  to  copy  some 
of  the  Indian's  traits. 

While  the  game  butchers,  the  skin  hunters,  and  their 
like,  work  such  brutal  slaughter  among  the  plains  animals 
that  these  will  soon  be  either  totally  extinct  or  so  thinned 
out  as  to  cease  being  prominent  features  of  plains  life 
yet,  on  the  other  hand,  the  nature  of  the  country  debar? 
them  from  following  certain  murderous  and  unsportsman 
like  forms  of  hunting  much  in  vogue  in  other  quarters  of 
our  land.     There  is  no  deep  water  into  which  a  deer  can 
be  driven  by  hounds,  and  then  shot  at  arm's-length  from 
a  boat,  as  is  the  fashion  with  some  of  the  city  sportsmen 


158  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

who  infest  the  Adirondack  forests  during  the  hunting 
season  ;  nor  is  the  winter  snow  ever  deep  enough  to  form 
a  crust  over  which  a  man  can  go  on  snow-shoes,  and  after 
running  down  a  deer,  which  plunges  as  if  in  a  quagmire, 
knock  the  poor,  worn-out  brute  on  the  head  with  an  axe. 
Fire-hunting  is  never  tried  in  the  cattle  country ;  it  would 
be  far  more  likely  to  result  in  the  death  of  a  steer  or 
pony  than  in  the  death  of  a  deer,  if  attempted  on  foot 
with  a  torch,  as  is  done  in  some  of  the  Southern  States ; 
while  the  streams  are  not  suited  to  the  floating  or  jacking 
with  a  lantern  in  the  bow  of  the  canoe,  as  practised  in  the 
Adirondacks.  Floating  and  fire-hunting,  though  by  no 
means  to  be  classed  among  the  nobler  kinds  of  sport,  yet 
have  a  certain  fascination  of  their  own,  not  so  much  for 
the  sake  of  the  actual  hunting,  as  for  the  novelty  of  being 
out  in  the  wilderness  at  night ;  and  the  noiselessness 
absolutely  necessary  to  insure  success  often  enables  the 
sportsman  to  catch  curious  glimpses  of  the  night  life  of 
the  different  kinds  of  wild  animals. 

If  it  were  not  for  the  wolf  poison,  the  plains  country 
would  be  peculiarly  fitted  for  hunting  with  hounds ;  and, 
if  properly  carried  on,  there  is  no  manlier  form  of  sport. 
It  does  not  imply  in  the  man  who  follows  it  the  skill  that 
distinguishes  the  successful  still-hunter,  but  it  has  a  dash 
and  excitement  all  its  own,  if  the  hunter  follows  the 
hounds  on  horseback.  But,  as  carried  on  in  the  Adi- 
rondacks and  in  the  Eastern  and  Southern  mountains 
generally,  hounding  deer  is  not  worthy  of  much  regard. 
There  the  hunter  is  stationed  at  a  runaway  over  which 
deer  will  probably  pass,  and  has  nothing  to  do  but  sit  still 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  J59 

for  a  number  of  weary  hours  and  perhaps  put  a  charge  of 
buckshot  into  a  deer  running  by  but  a  few  yards  off.  If 
a  rifle  instead  of  a  shot-gun  is  used,  a  certain  amount  of 
skill  is  necessary,  for  then  it  is  hard  to  hit  a  deer  running, 
no  matter  how  close  up  ;  but  even  with  this  weapon  all  the 
sportsman  has  to  do  is  to  shoot  well ;  he  need  not  show 
knowledge  of  a  single  detail  of  hunting  craft,  nor  need  he 
have  any  trait  of  mind  or  body  such  as  he  must  possess 
to  follow  most  other  kinds  of  the  chase. 

Deer-hunting  on  horseback  is  something  widely  dif- 
ferent. Even  if  the  hunters  carry  rifles  and  themselves 
kill  the  deer,  using  the  dogs  merely  to  drive  it  out  of  the 
brush,  they  must  be  bold  and  skilful  horsemen,  and  must 
show  good  judgment  in  riding  to  cut  off  the  quarry,  so  as  to 
be  able  to  get  a  shot  at  it.  This  is  the  common  Ameri- 
can method  of  hunting  the  deer  in  those  places  where  it 
is  followed  with  horse  and  hound ;  but  it  is  also  coursed 
with  greyhounds  in  certain  spots  where  the  lay  of  the 
land  permits  this  form  of  sport,  and  in  many  districts, 
even  where  ordinary  hounds  are  used,  the  riders  go  un- 
armed and  merely  follow  the  pack  till  the  deer  is  bayed 
and  pulled  down.  All  kinds  of  hunting  on  horseback — 
and  most  hunting  on  horseback  is  done  with  hounds — 
tend  to  bring  out  the  best  and  manliest  qualities  in  the 
men  who  follow  them,  and  they  should  be  encouraged  in 
every  way.  Long  after  the  rifleman,  as  well  as  the  game 
he  hunts,  shall  have  vanished  from  the  plains,  the  cattle 
country  will  afford  fine  sport  in  coursing  hares  ;  and  both 
wolves  and  deer  could  be  followed  and  killed  with  packs 
of  properly-trained  hounds,  and  such  sport  would  be  even 


160  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

more  exciting  than  still-hunting  with  the  rifle.  It  is  on 
the  great  plains  lying  west  of  the  Missouri  that  riding  to 
hounds  will  in  the  end  receive  its  fullest  development  as  a 
national  pastime. 

But  at  present,  for  the  reasons  already  stated,  it  is  al- 
most unknown  in  the  cattle  country ;  and  the  ranchman 
who  loves  sport  must  try  still-hunting — and  by  still-hunt- 
ing is  meant  pretty  much  every  kind  of  chase  where  a 
single  man,  unaided  by  a  dog,  and  almost  always  on  foot, 
outgenerals  a  deer  and  kills  it  with  the  rifle.  To  do  this 
successfully,  unless  deer  are  very  plenty  and  tame,  implies 
a  certain  knowledge  of  the  country,  and  a  good  knowl- 
edge of  the  habits  of  the  game.  The  hunter  must  keep  a 
sharp  look-out  for  deer  sign  ;  for,  though  a  man  soon  gets 
to  have  a  general  knowledge  of  the  kind  of  places  in  which 
deer  are  likely  to  be,  yet  he  will  also  find  that  they  are 
either  very  capricious,  or  else  that  no  man  has  more  than 
a  partial  understanding  of  their  tastes  and  likings ;  for  many 
spots  apparently  just  suited  to  them  will  be  almost  unin- 
habited, while  in  others  they  will  be  found  where  it  would 
hardly  occur  to  any  one  to  suspect  their  presence.  Any 
cause  may  temporarily  drive  deer  out  of  a  given  locality. 
Still-hunting,  especially,  is  sure  to  send  many  away,  while 
rendering  the  others  extremely  wild  and  shy,  and  where 
deer  have  become  used  to  being  pursued  in  only  one 
way,  it  is  often  an  excellent  plan  to  try  some  entirely 
different  method. 

A  certain  knowledge  of  how  to  track  deer  is  very  use- 
ful. To  become  a  really  skilful  tracker  is  most  difficult ; 
and  there  are  some  kinds  of  ground,  where,  for  instance,  it 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  161 

is  very  hard  and  dry,  or  frozen  solid,  on  which  almost  any 
man  will  be  at  fault.  But  any  one  with  a  little  practice 
can  learn  to  do  a  certain  amount  of  tracking.  On  snow, 
of  course,  it  is  very  easy ;  but  on  the  other  hand  it  is  also 
peculiarly  difficult  to  avoid  being  seen  by  the  deer  when 
the  ground  is  white.  After  deer  have  been  frightened 
once  or  twice,  or  have  even  merely  been  disturbed  by 
man,  they  get  the  habit  of  keeping  a  watch  back  on  their 
trail ;  and  when  snow  has  fallen,  a  man  is  such  a  con- 
spicuous object  deer  see  him  a  long  way  off,  and  even  the 
tamest  become  wild.  A  deer  will  often,  before  lying 
down,  take  a  half  circle  back  to  one  side  and  make  its  bed 
a  few  yards  from  its  trail,  where  it  can,  itself  unseen, 
watch  any  person  tracing  it  up.  A  man  tracking  in  snow 
needs  to  pay  very  little  heed  to  the  footprints,  which  can 
be  followed  without  effort,  but  requires  to  keep  up  the 
closest  scrutiny  over  the  ground  ahead  of  him,  and  on 
either  side  of  the  trail. 

In  the  early  morning  when  there  is  a  heavy  dew  the 
footprints  will  be  as  plain  as  possible  in  the  grass,  and  can 
then  be  followed  readily ;  and  in  any  place  where  the 
ground  is  at  all  damp  they  will  usually  be  plain  enough  to 
be  made  out  without  difficulty.  When  the  ground  is  hard 
or  dry  the  work  is  very  much  less  easy,  and  soon  becomes 
so  difficult  as  not  to  be  worth  while  following  up.  Indeed, 
at  all  times,  even  in  the  snow,  tracks  are  chiefly  of  use  to 
show  the  probable  locality  in  which  a  deer  may  be  found  ; 
and  the  still-hunter  instead  of  laboriously  walking  along 
a  trail  will  do  far  better  to  merely  follow  it  until,  from  its 
freshness  and  direction,  he  feels  confident  that  the  deer  is 


162  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

in  some  particular  space  of  ground,  and  then  hunt  through 
it,  guiding  himself  by  his  knowledge  of  the  deer's  habits 
and  by  the  character  of  the  land.  Tracks  are  of  most  use 
in  showing  whether  deer  are  plenty  or  scarce,  whether 
they  have  been  in  the  place  recently  or  not.  Generally, 
signs  of  deer  are  infinitely  more  plentiful  than  the  animals 
themselves — although  in  regions  where  tracking  is  espe- 
cially difficult  deer  are  often  jumped  without  any  sign 
having  been  seen  at  all.  Usually,  however,  the  rule  is  the 
reverse,  and  as  deer  are  likely  to  make  any  quantity  of 
tracks  the  beginner  is  apt,  judging  purely  from  the  sign, 
greatly  to  over-estimate  their  number.  Another  mistake 
of  the  beginner  is  to  look  for  the  deer  during  the  daytime 
in  the  places  where  their  tracks  were  made  in  the  morning, 
when  their  day  beds  will  probably  be  a  long  distance  off. 
In  the  night-time  deer  will  lie  down  almost  anywhere, 
but  during  the  day  they  go  some  distance  from  their 
feeding-  or  watering-places,  as  already  explained. 

If  deer  are  at  all  plenty — and  if  scarce  only  a  master 
in  the  art  can  succeed  at  still-hunting — it  is  best  not  to  try 
to  follow  the  tracks  at  all,  but  merely  to  hunt  carefully 
through  any  ground  which  from  its  looks  seems  likely 
to  contain  the  animals.  Of  course  the  hunting  must  be 
done  either  against  or  across  the  wind,  and  the  greatest 
care  must  be  taken  to  avoid  making  a  noise.  Moccasins 
should  be  worn,  and  not  a  twig  should  be  trodden  on,  nor 
should  the  dress  be  allowed  to  catch  in  a  brush.  Especial 
caution  should  be  used  in  going  over  a  ridge  or  crest ;  no 
man  should  ever  let  his  whole  body  appear  at  once,  but 
should  first  carefully  peep  over,  not  letting  his  rifle  barrel 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  163 

come  into  view,  and  closely  inspect  every  place  in  sight 
in  which  a  deer  could  possibly  stand  or  lie,  always  re- 
membering that  a  deer  is  when  still  a  most  difficult  animal 
to  see,  and  that  it  will  be  completely  hidden  in  cover 
which  would  apparently  hardly  hold  a  rabbit.  The  rifle 
should  be  carried  habitually  so  that  the  sun  will  not  glance 
upon  it.  Advantage  must  be  taken,  in  walking,  of  all 
cover,  so  that  the  hunter  will  not  be  a  conspicuous  object 
at  any  distance.  The  heads  of  a  series  of  brushy  ravines 
should  always  be  crossed ;  and  a  narrow,  winding  valley, 
with  patches  of  bushes  and  young  trees  down  through  the 
middle,  is  always  a  likely  place.  Caution  should  never 
for  a  moment  be  forgotten,  especially  in  the  morning  or 
evening,  the  times  when  a  hunter  will  get  nine  tenths  of  his 
shots ;  for  it  is  just  then,  when  moving  and  feeding,  that 
deer  are  most  watchful.  One  will  never  browse  for  more 
than  a  minute  or  two  without  raising  its  head  and  peering 
about  for  any  possible  foe,  the  great,  sensitive  ears  thrown 
forward  to  catch  the  slightest  sound.  But  while  using 
such  caution  it  is  also  well  to  remember  that  as  much 
ground  should  be  crossed  as  possible  ;  other  things  being 
equal,  the  number  of  shots  obtained  will  correspond  to  the 
amount  of  country  covered.  And  of  course  a  man  should 
be  on  the  hunting  ground — not  starting  for  the  hunting 
ground — by  the  time  there  is  enough  light  by  which  to 
shoot. 

Deer  are  in  season  for  hunting  from  August  first  to 
January  first.  August  is  really  too  early  to  get  full 
enjoyment  out  of  the  sport.  The  bucks,  though  fat  and 
good  eating,  are  still  in  the  velvet ;  and  neither  does  nor 


164  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

fawns  should  be  killed,  as  many  of  the  latter  are  in  the 
spotted  coat.  Besides  it  is  very  hot  in  the  middle  of  the 
day,  though  pleasant  walking  in  the  early  morning  and 
late  evening,  and  with  cool  nights.  December  is  apt  to 
be  too  cold,  although  with  many  fine  days.  The  true 
time  for  the  chase  of  the  black-tail  is  in  the  three  fall 
months.  Then  the  air  is  fresh  and  bracing,  and  a  man 
feels  as  if  he  could  walk  or  ride  all  day  long  without 
tiring.  In  the  bright  fall  weather  the  country  no  longer 
keeps  its  ordinary  look  of  parched  desolation,  and  the 
landscape  loses  its  sameness  at  the  touch  of  the  frost. 
Where  every  thing  before  had  been  gray  or  dull  green 
there  are  now  patches  of  russet  red  and  bright  yellow. 
The  clumps  of  ash,  wild  plum-trees,  and  rose-bushes 
in  the  heads  and  bottoms  of  the  sloping  valleys  become 
spots  of  color  that  glow  among  the  stretches  of  brown  and 
withered  grass  ;  the  young  cotton-woods,  growing  on  the 
points  of  land  round  which  flow  the  rivers  and  streams, 
change  to  a  delicate  green  or  yellow,  on  which  the  eye 
rests  with  pleasure  after  having  so  long  seen  only  the 
dull  drab  of  the  prairies.  Often  there  will  be  days  of 
bitter  cold,  when  a  man  who  sleeps  out  in  the  open  feels 
the  need  of  warm  furs  ;  but  still  more  often  there  will  be 
days  and  days  of  sunny  weather,  not  cold  enough  to 
bring  discomfort,  but  yet  so  cool  that  the  blood  leaps 
briskly  through  a  man's  veins  and  makes  him  feel  that  to 
be  out  and  walking  over  the  hills  is  a  pleasure  in  itself, 
even  were  he  not  in  hopes  of  any  moment  seeing  the  sun 
glint  on  the  horns  and  hide  of  some  mighty  buck,  as 
it  rises  to  face  the  intruder.  On  days  such  as  these, 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  165 

mere  life  is  enjoyment ;  and  on  days  such  as  these,  the 
life  of  a  hunter  is  at  its  pleasantest  and  best. 

Many  black-tail  are  sometimes  killed  in  a  day.  I  have 
never  made  big  bags  myself,  for  I  rarely  hunt  except  for  a 
fine  head  or  when  we  need  meat,  and  if  it  can  be  avoided 
do  not  shoot  at  fawns  or  does  ;  so  the  greatest  number  I 
have  ever  killed  in  a  day  was  three.  This  was  late  one 
November,  on  an  occasion  when  our  larder  was  running 
low.  My  foreman  and  I,  upon  discovering  this  fact,  de- 
termined to  make  a  trip  next  day  back  in  the  broken 
country,  away  from  the  river,  where  black-tail  were  almost 
sure  to  be  found. 

We  breakfasted  hours  before  sunrise,  and  then  mounted 
our  horses  and  rode  up  the  river  bottom.  The  bright 
prairie  moon  was  at  the  full,  and  was  sunk  in  the  west  till  it 
hung  like  a  globe  of  white  fire  over  the  long  row  of  jagged 
bluffs  that  rose  from  across  the  river,  while  its  beams 
brought  into  fantastic  relief  the  peaks  and  crests  of  the 
buttes  upon  our  left.  The  valley  of  the  river  itself  was  in 
partial  darkness,  and  the  stiff,  twisted  branches  of  the  sage- 
brush seemed  to  take  on  uncanny  shapes  as  they  stood  in 
the  hollows.  The  cold  was  stinging,  and  we  let  our  willing 
horses  gallop  with  loose  reins,  their  hoofs  ringing  on  the 
frozen  ground.  After  going  up  a  mile  or  two  along  the 
course  of  the  river  we  turned  off  to  follow  the  bed  of  a 
large  dry  creek.  At  its  mouth  was  a  great  space  of 
ground  much  cut  up  by  the  hoofs  of  the  cattle,  which  was 
in  summer  overflowed  and  almost  a  morass ;  but  now  the 
frost-bound  earth  was  like  wrinkled  iron  beneath  the 
horses'  feet.  Behind  us  the  westering  moon  sank  down 


166  T'he  Black-Tail  Deer. 

out  of  sight ;  and  with  no  light  but  that  of  the  stars,  we 
let  our  horses  thread  their  own  way  up  the  creek  bottom. 
When  we  had  gone  a  couple  of  miles  from  the  river  the 
sky  in  front  of  our  faces  took  on  a  faint  grayish  tinge,  the 
forerunner  of  dawn.  Every  now  and  then  we  passed  by 
bunches  of  cattle,  lying  down  or  standing  huddled  together 
in  the  patches  of  brush  or  under  the  lee  of  some  shelving 
bank  or  other  wind-break  ;  and  as  the  eastern  heavens  grew 
brighter,  a  dark  form  suddenly  appeared  against  the  sky- 
line, on  the  crest  of  a  bluff  directly  ahead  of  us.  Another 
and  another  came  up  beside  it.  A  glance  told  us  that  it 
was  a  troop  of  ponies,  which  stood  motionless,  like  so  many 
silhouettes,  their  outstretched  necks  and  long  tails  vividly 
outlined  against  the  light  behind  them.  All  in  the  valley 
was  yet  dark  when  we  reached  the  place  where  the  creek 
began  to  split  up  and  branch  out  into  the  various  arms 
and  ravines  from  which  it  headed.  We  galloped  smartly 
over  the  divide  into  a  set  of  coulies  and  valleys  which  ran 
into  a  different  creek,  and  selected  a  grassy  place  where 
there  was  good  feed  to  leave  the  horses.  My  companion 
picketed  his  ;  Manitou  needed  no  picketing. 

The  tops  of  the  hills  were  growing  rosy,  but  the  sun  was 
not  yet  above  the  horizon  when  we  started  off,  with  our 
rifles  on  our  shoulders,  walking  in  cautious  silence,  for  we 
were  in  good  ground  and  might  at  any  moment  see  a  deer. 
Above  us  was  a  plateau  of  some  size,  breaking  off  sharply 
at  the  rim  into  a  surrounding  stretch  of  very  rough  and 
rugged  country.  It  sent  off  low  spurs  with  notched  crests 
into  the  valleys  round  about,  and  its  edges  were  indented 
with  steep  ravines  and  half-circular  basins,  their  sides  cov- 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  167 

ered  with  clusters  of  gnarled  and  wind-beaten  cedars,  often 
gathered  into  groves  of  some  size.  The  ground  was  so 
broken  as  to  give  excellent  cover  under  which  a  man  could 
approach  game  unseen  ;  there  were  plenty  of  fresh  signs  of 
deer;  and  we  were  confident  we  should  soon  get  a  shot. 
Keeping  at  the  bottom  of  the  gullies,  so  as  to  be  ourselves 
inconspicuous,  we  walked  noiselessly  on,  cautiously  examin- 
ing every  pocket  or  turn  before  we  rounded  the  corner, 
and  looking  with  special  care  along  the  edges  of  the 
patches  of  brush. 

At  last,  just  as  the  sun  had  risen,  we  came  out  by 
the  mouth  of  a  deep  ravine  or  hollow,  cut  in  the  flank  of 
the  plateau,  with  steep,  cedar-clad  sides ;  and  on  the  crest 
of  a  jutting  spur,  not  more  than  thirty  yards  from  where 
I  stood,  was  a  black-tail  doe,  half  facing  me.  I  was  in 
the  shadow,  and  for  a  moment  she  could  not  make  me 
out,  and  stood  motionless  with  her  head  turned  toward 
me  and  her  great  ears  thrown  forward.  Dropping  on 
my  knee,  I  held  the  rifle  a  little  back  of  her  shoulder — 
too  far  back,  as  it  proved,  as  she  stood  quartering  and 
not  broadside  to  me.  No  fairer  chance  could  ever  fall 
to  the  lot  of  a  hunter ;  but,  to  my  intense  chagrin,  she 
bounded  off  at  the  report  as  if  unhurt,  disappearing 
instantly.  My  companion  had  now  come  up,  and  we  ran 
up  a  rise  of  ground,  and  crouched  down  beside  a  great 
block  of  sandstone,  in  a  position  from  which  we  over- 
looked the  whole  ravine  or  hollow.  After  some  minutes 
of  quiet  watchfulness,  we  heard  a  twig  snap — the  air  was 
so  still  we  could  hear  any  thing — some  rods  up  the 
ravine,  but  below  us ;  and  immediately  afterward  a  buck 


1 68  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

stole  out  of  the  cedars.  Both  of  us  fired  at  once,  and 
with  a  convulsive  spring  he  rolled  over  backward,  one 
bullet  having  gone  through  his  neck,  and  the  other — 
probably  mine — having  broken  a  hind  leg.  Immediately 
afterward,  another  buck  broke  from  the  upper  edge  of 
the  cover,  near  the  top  of  the  plateau,  and,  though  I 
took  a  hurried  shot  at  him,  bounded  over  the  crest,  and 
was  lost  to  sight. 

We  now  determined  to  go  down  into  the  ravine 
and  look  for  the  doe,  and  as  there  was  a  good  deal  of 
snow  in  the  bottom  and  under  the  trees,  we  knew  we 
could  soon  tell  if  she  were  wounded.  After  a  little 
search  we  found  her  track,  and  walking  along  it  a  few 
yards,  came  upon  some  drops  and  then  a  splash  of  blood. 
There  being  no  need  to  hurry,  we  first  dressed  the  dead 
buck — a  fine,  fat  fellow,  but  with  small,  misshapen  horns, 
— and  then  took  up  the  trail  of  the  wounded  doe.  Here, 
however,  I  again  committed  an  error,  and  paid  too  much 
heed  to  the  trail  and  too  little  to  the  country  round 
about ;  and  while  following  it  with  my  eyes  down  on  the 
ground  in  a  place  where  it  was  faint,  the  doe  got  up  some 
distance  ahead  and  to  one  side  of  me,  and  bounded  off 
round  a  corner  of  the  ravine.  The  bed  where  she  had 
lain  was  not  very  bloody,  but  from  the  fact  of  her  having 
stopped  so  soon,  I  was  sure  she  was  badly  wounded. 
However,  after  she  got  out  of  the  snow  the  ground  was  as 
hard  as  flint,  and  it  was  impossible  to  track  her;  the 
valley  soon  took  a  turn,  and  branched  into  a  tangle  of 
coulies  and  ravines.  I  deemed  it  probable  that  she  would 
not  go  up  hill,  but  would  run  down  the  course  of  the  main 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  169 

valley ;  but  as  it  was  so  uncertain,  we  thought  it  would 
pay  us  best  to  look  for  a  new  deer. 

Our  luck,  however,  seemed — very  deservedly — to  have 
ended.  We  tramped  on,  as  swiftly  as  was  compatible 
with  quiet,  for  hour  after  hour ;  beating  through  the 
valleys  against  the  wind,  and  crossing  the  brushy  heads 
of  the  ravines,  sometimes  close  together,  and  sometimes 
keeping  about  a  hundred  yards  apart,  according  to  the 
nature  of  the  ground.  When  we  had  searched  all  through 
the  country  round  the  head  of  the  creek,  into  which  we 
had  come  down,  we  walked  over  to  the  next,  and  went 
over  it  with  equal  care  and  patience.  The  morning 
was  now  well  advanced,  and  we  had  to  change  our 
method  of  hunting.  It  was  no  longer  likely  that  we 
should  find  the  deer  feeding  or  in  the  open,  and  instead 
we  looked  for  places  where  they  might  be  expected  to 
bed,  following  any  trails  that  led  into  thick  patches  of 
brush  or  young  trees,  one  of  us  then  hunting  through 
the  patch  while  the  other  kept  watch  without.  Doubtless 
we  must  have  passed  close  to  more  than  one  deer,  and 
doubtless  others  heard  us  and  skulked  off  through  the 
thick  cover ;  but,  although  we  saw  plenty  of  signs,  we 
saw  neither  hoof  nor  hair  of  living  thing.  It  is  under 
such  circumstances  that  a  still-hunter  needs  to  show  reso- 
lution, and  to  persevere  until  his  luck  turns — this  being  a 
euphemistic  way  of  saying,  until  he  ceases  to  commit  the 
various  blunders  which  alarm  the  deer  and  make  them 
get  out  of  the  way.  Plenty  of  good  shots  become  dis- 
gusted if  they  do  not  see  a  deer  early  in  the  morning, 
and  go  home  ;  still  more,  if  they  do  not  see  one  in  two  or 


i ;o  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

three  days.  Others  will  go  on  hunting,  but  become  care- 
less, stumble  and  step  on  dried  sticks,  and  let  their  eyes 
fall  to  the  ground.  It  is  a  good  test  of  a  man's  resolution 
to  see  if,  at  the  end  of  a  long  and  unsuccessful  tramp 
after  deer,  he  moves  just  as  carefully,  and  keeps  just 
as  sharp  a  look-out  as  he  did  at  the  beginning.  If  he 
does  this,  and  exercises  a  little  common-sense — in  still- 
hunting,  as  in  every  thing  else,  common-sense  is  the  most 
necessary  of  qualities, — he  may  be  sure  that  his  reward 
will  come  some  day ;  and  when  it  does  come,  he  feels 
a  gratification  that  only  his  fellow-sportsmen  can  under- 
stand. 

We  lunched  at  the  foot  of  a  great  clay  butte,  where 
there  was  a  bed  of  snow.  Fall  or  winter  hunting  in 
the  Bad  Lands  has  one  great  advantage  :  the  hunter  is 
not  annoyed  by  thirst  as  he  is  almost  sure  to  be  if  walking 
for  long  hours  under  the  blazing  summer  sun.  If  he 
gets  very  thirsty,  a  mouthful  or  two  of  snow  from  some 
hollow  will  moisten  his  lips  and  throat ;  and  anyhow 
thirstiness  is  largely  a  mere  matter  of  habit.  For  lunch, 
the  best  thing  a  hunter  can  carry  is  dried  or  smoked  veni- 
son, with  not  too  much  salt  in  it.  It  is  much  better  than 
bread,  and  not  nearly  so  dry ;  and  it  is  easier  to  carry, 
as  a  couple  of  pieces  can  be  thrust  into  the  bosom  of 
the  hunting-shirt  or  the  pocket,  or  in  fact  anywhere ;  and 
for  keeping  up  a  man's  strength  there  is  nothing  that 
comes  up  to  it. 

After  lunch  we  hunted  until  the  shadows  began  to 
lengthen  out,  when  we  went  back  to  our  horses.  The 
buck  was  packed  behind  good  old  Manitou,  who  can  carry 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  17* 

'any  amount  of  weight  at  a  smart  pace,  and  does  not  care 
at  all  if  a  strap  breaks  and  he  finds  his  load  dangling 
about  his  feet,  an  event  that  reduces  most  horses  to  a  state 
of  frantic  terror.  As  soon  as  loaded  we  rode  down  the 
valley  into  which  the  doe  had  disappeared  in  the  morning, 
one  taking  each  side  and  looking  into  every  possible  lurk- 
ing place.  The  odds  were  all  against  our  finding  any 
trace  of  her ;  but  a  hunter  soon  learns  that  he  must  take 
advantage  of  every  chance,  however  slight.  This  time  we 
were  rewarded  for  our  care  ;  for  after  riding  about  a  mile 
our  attention  was  attracted  by  a  white  patch  in  a  clump  of 
low  briars.  On  getting  off  and  looking  in  it  proved  to  be 
the  white  rump  of  the  doe,  which  lay  stretched  out  inside, 
stark  and  stiff.  The  ball  had  gone  in  too  far  aft  and  had 
come  out  on  the  opposite  side  near  her  hip,  making  a 
mortal  wound,  but  one  which  allowed  her  to  run  over  a 
mile  before  dying.  It  was  little  more  than  an  accident 
that  we  in  the  end  got  her ;  and  my  so  nearly  missing  at 
such  short  range  was  due  purely  to  carelessness  and  bad 
judgment.  I  had  killed  too  many  deer  to  be  at  all  nervous 
over  them,  and  was  as  cool  with  a  buck  as  with  a  rabbit ; 
but  as  she  was  so  close  I  made  the  common  mistake  of 
being  too  much  in  a  hurry,  and  did  not  wait  to  see  that 
she  was  standing  quartering  to  me  and  that  consequently 
I  should  aim  at  the  point  of  the  shoulder.  As  a  result  the 
deer  was  nearly  lost. 

Neither  of  my  shots  had  so  far  done  me  much  credit ; 
but  at  any  rate  I  had  learned  where  the  error  lay,  and  this 
is  going  a  long  way  toward  correcting  it.  I  kept  wishing 
that  I  could  get  another  chance  to  see  if  I  had  not  profited 


172  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

by  my  lessons ;  and  before  we  reached  home  my  wish  was 
gratified.  We  were  loping  down  a  grassy  valley,  dotted 
with  clumps  of  brush,  the  wind  blowing  strong  in  our 
faces,  and  deadening  the  noise  made  by  the  hoofs  on 
the  grass.  As  we  passed  by  a  piece  of  broken  ground  a 
yearling  black-tail  buck  jumped  into  view  and  cantered 
away.  I  was  off  Manitou's  back  in  an  instant.  The  buck  was 
moving  slowly,  and  was  evidently  soon  going  to  stop  and 
look  round,  so  I  dropped  on  one  knee,  with  my  rifle  half 
raised,  and  waited.  When  about  sixty  yards  off  he  halted 
and  turned  sideways  to  me,  offering  a  beautiful  broadside 
shot.  I  aimed  at  the  spot  just  behind  the  shoulder  and 
felt  I  had  him.  At  the  report  he  went  off,  but  with 
short,  weak  bounds,  and  I  knew  he  would  not  go  far ;  nor 
did  he,  but  stopped  short,  swayed  unsteadily  about,  and 
went  over  on  his  side,  dead,  the  bullet  clean  through  his 
body. 

Each  of  us  already  had  a  deer  behind  his  saddle,  so  we 
could  not  take  the  last  buck  along  with  us.  Accordingly 
we  dressed  him,  and  hung  him  up  by  the  heels  to  a  branch 
of  a  tree,  piling  the  brush  around  as  if  building  a  slight 
pen  or  trap,  to  keep  off  the  coyotes  ;  who,  anyhow,  are  not 
apt  to  harm  game  that  is  hanging  up,  their  caution  seem- 
ing to  make  them  fear  that  it  will  not  be  safe  to  do  so. 
In  such  cold  weather  a  deer  hung  up  in  this  way  will  keep 
an  indefinite  length  of  time ;  and  the  carcass  was  all  right 
when  a  week  or  two  afterwards  we  sent  out  the  buck-board 
to  bring  it  back. 

A  stout  buck-board  is  very  useful  on  a  ranch,  where 
men  are  continually  taking  short  trips  on  which  they  do 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  173 

not  wish  to  be  encumbered  by  the  heavy  ranch  wagon. 
Pack  ponies  are  always  a  nuisance,  though  of  course  an 
inevitable  one  in  making  journeys  through  mountains  or 
forests.  But  on  the  plains  a  buck-board  is  far  more  handy. 
The  blankets  and  provisions  can  be  loaded  upon  it,  and  it  can 
then  be  given  a  definite  course  to  travel  or  point  to  reach  ; 
and  meanwhile  the  hunters,  without  having  their  horses 
tired  by  carrying  heavy  packs,  can  strike  off  and  hunt 
wherever  they  wish.  There  is  little  or  no  difficulty  in  going 
over  the  prairie ;  but  it  needs  a  skilful  plainsman,  as  well 
as  a  good  teamster,  to  take  a  wagon  through  the  Bad 
Lands.  There  are  but  two  courses  to  follow.  One  is  to 
go  along  the  bottoms  of  the  valleys ;  the  other  is  to  go 
along  the  tops  of  the  divides.  The  latter  is  generally  the 
best ;  for  each  valley  usually  has  at  its  bottom  a  deep 
winding  ditch  with  perpendicular  banks,  which  wanders  first 
to  one  side  and  then  to  the  other,  and  has  to  be  crossed 
again  and  again,  while  a  little  way  from  it  begin  the  gullies 
and  gulches  which  come  down  from  the  side  hills.  It  is  no 
easy  matter  to  tell  which  is  the  main  divide,  as  it  curves 
and  twists  about,  and  is  all  the  time  splitting  up  into  lesser 
ones,  which  merely  separate  two  branches  of  the  same 
creek.  If  the  teamster  does  not  know  the  lay  of  the  land 
he  will  be  likely  to  find  himself  in  a.  cul-de-sac,  from  which  he 
can  only  escape  by  going  back  a  mile  or  two  and  striking 
out  afresh.  In  very  difficult  country  the  horsemen  must 
be  on  hand  to  help  the  team  pull  up  the  steep  places.  Many 
horses  that  will  not  pull  a  pound  in  harness  will  haul  for 
all  there  is  in  them  from  the  saddle ;  Manitou  is  a  case  in 
point.  Often  obstacles  will  be  encountered  across  which 


174  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

it  is  simply  impossible  for  any  team  to  drag  a  loaded  or 
even  an  empty  wagon.  Such  are  steep  canyons,  or  muddy- 
bottomed  streams  with  sheer  banks,  especially  if  the  latter 
have  rotten  edges.  The  horses  must  then  be  crossed  first 
and  the  wagon  dragged  over  afterward  by  the  aid  of  long 
ropes.  Often  it  may  be  needful  to  build  a  kind  of  rude  bridge 
or  causeway  on  which  to  get  the  animals  over ;  and  if  the 
canyon  is  very  deep  the  wagon  may  have  to  be  taken  in 
pieces,  let  down  one  side,  and  hauled  up  the  other.  An 
immense  amount  of  labor  may  be  required  to  get  over  a 
very  trifling  distance.  Pack  animals,  however,  can  go 
almost  anywhere  that  a  man  can. 

Although  still-hunting  on  foot,  as  described  above,  is 
on  the  whole  the  best  way  to  get  deer,  yet  there  are  many 
places  where  from  the  nature  of  the  land  the  sport  can  be 
followed  quite  as  well  on  horseback,  than  which  there  is 
no  more  pleasant  kind  of  hunting.  The  best  shot  I  ever 
made  in  my  life — a  shot  into  which,  however,  I  am  afraid 
the  element  of  chance  entered  much  more  largely  than  the 
element  of  skill — was  made  while  hunting  black-tail  on 
horseback. 

We  were  at  that  time  making  quite  a  long  trip  with 
the  wagon,  and  were  going  up  the  fork  of  a  plains  river 
in  Western  Montana.  As  we  were  out  of  food,  those 
two  of  our  number  who  usually  undertook  to  keep  the 
camp  supplied  with  game  determined  to  make  a  hunt  off 
back  of  the  river  after  black-tail ;  for  though  there  were 
some  white-tail  in  the  more  densely  timbered  river  bottoms, 
we  had  been  unable  to  get  any.  It  was  arranged  that  the 
wagon  should  go  on  a  few  miles,  and  then  halt  for  the 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  175 

night,  as  it  was  already  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  when 
we  started  out.  The  country  resembled  in  character 
other  parts  of  the  cattle  plains,  but  it  was  absolutely 
bare  of  trees  except  along  the  bed  of  the  river.  The 
rolling  hills  sloped  steeply  off  into  long  valleys  and  deep 
ravines.  They  were  sparsely  covered  with  coarse  grass, 
and  also  with  an  irregular  growth  of  tall  sage-brush, 
which  in  some  places  gathered  into  dense  thickets.  A 
beginner  would  have  thought  the  country  entirely  too 
barren  of  cover  to  hold  deer,  but  a  very  little  experi- 
ence teaches  one  that  deer  will  be  found  in  thickets  of 
such  short  and  sparse  growth  that  it  seems  as  if  they 
could  hide  nothing ;  and,  what  is  more,  that  they  will 
often  skulk  round  in  such  thickets  without  being  discov- 
ered. And  a  black-tail  is  a  bold,  free  animal,  liking  to 
go  out  in  comparatively  open  country,  where  he  must 
trust  to  his  own  powers,  and  not  to  any  concealment,  to 
protect  him  from  danger. 

Where  the  hilly  country  joined  the  alluvial  river 
bottom,  it  broke  short  off  into  steep  bluffs,  up  which 
none  but  a  Western  pony  could  have  climbed.  It  is 
really  wonderful  to  see  what  places  a  pony  can  get  over, 
and  the  indifference  with  which  it  regards  tumbles.  In 
getting  up  from  the  bottom  we  went  into  a  wash-out, 
and  then  led  our  ponies  along  a  clay  ledge,  from  which 
we  turned  off  and  went  straight  up  a  very  steep  sandy 
bluff.  My  companion  was  ahead  ;  just  as  he  turned  off  the 
ledge,  and  as  I  was  right  underneath  him,  his  horse,  in 
plunging  to  try  to  get  up  the  sand  bluff,  overbalanced 
itself,  and,  after  standing  erect  on  its  hind  legs  for  a 


176  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

second,  came  over  backward.  The  second's  pause  while  it 
stood  bolt  upright,  gave  me  time  to  make  a  frantic  leap  out 
of  the  way  with  my  pony,  which  scrambled  after  me,  and  we 
both  clung  with  hands  and  hoofs  to  the  side  of  the  bank, 
while  the  other  horse  took  two  as  complete  somersaults 
as  I  ever  saw,  and  landed  with  a  crash  at  the  bottom 
of  the  wash-out,  feet  uppermost.  I  thought  it  was  done 
for,  but  not  a  bit.  After  a  moment  or  two  it  struggled 
to  its  legs,  shook  itself,  and  looked  round  in  rather  a 
shamefaced  way,  apparently  not  in  the  least  the  worse 
for  the  fall.  We  now  got  my  pony  up  to  the  top  by 
vigorous  pulling,  and  then  went  down  for  the  other, 
which  at  first  strongly  objected  to  making  another  trial, 
but,  after  much  coaxing  and  a  good  deal  of  abuse,  took 
a  start  and  went  up  without  trouble. 

For  some  time  after  reaching  the  top  of  the  bluffs  we 
rode  along  without  seeing  any  thing.  When  it  was  possible, 
we  kept  one  on  each  side  of  a  creek,  avoiding  the  tops  of 
the  ridges,  because  while  on  them  a  horseman  can  be  seen 
at  a  very  long  distance,  and  going  with  particular  caution 
whenever  we  went  round  a  spur  or  came  up  over  a  crest. 
The  country  stretched  away  like  an  endless,  billowy  sea  of 
dull-brown  soil  and  barren  sage-brush,  the  valleys  making 
long  parallel  furrows,  and  every  thing  having  a  look  of 
dreary  sameness.  At  length,  as  we  came  out  on  a  rounded 
ridge,  three  black-tail  bucks  started  up  from  a  lot  of  sage- 
brush some  two  hundred  yards  away  and  below  us,  and 
made  off  down  hill.  It  was  a  very  long  shot,  especially  to 
try  running,  but,  as  game  seemed  scarce  and  cartridges 
were  plenty,  I  leaped  off  the  horse,  and,  kneeling,  fired. 


The  Black-Tail  Deer.  *77 

The  bullet  went  low,  striking  in  line  at  the  feet  of  the 
hindmost.  I  held  very  high  next  time,  making  a  wild  shot 
above  and  ahead  of  them,  which  had  the  effect  of  turning 
them,  and  they  went  off  round  a  shoulder  of  a  bluff,  being 
by  this  time  down  in  the  valley.  Having  plenty  of  time  I 
elevated  the  sights  (a  thing  I  hardly  ever  do)  to  four 
hundred  yards  and  waited  for  their  reappearance.  Mean- 
while they  had  evidently  gotten  over  their  fright,  for  pretty 
soon  one  walked  out  from  the  other  side  of  the  bluff,  and 
came  to  a  standstill,  broadside  toward  me.  He  was  too 
far  off  for  me  to  see  his  horns.  As  I  was  raising  the  rifle 
another  stepped  out  and  began  to  walk  towards  the  first. 
I  thought  I  might  as  well  have  as  much  of  a  target  as 
possible  to  shoot  at,  and  waited  for  the  second  buck  to 
come  out  farther,  which  he  did  immediately  and  stood 
still  just  alongside  of  the  first.  I  aimed  above  his 
shoulders  and  pulled  the  trigger.  Over  went  the  two 
bucks !  And  when  I  rushed  down  to  where  they  lay  I 
found  I  had  pulled  a  little  to  one  side,  and  the  bullet  had 
broken  the  backs  of  both.  While  my  companion  was 
dressing  them  I  went  back  and  paced  off  the  distance.  It 
was  just  four  hundred  and  thirty-one  long  paces ;  over 
four  hundred  yards.  Both  were  large  bucks  and  very  fat, 
with  the  velvet  hanging  in  shreds  from  their  antlers,  for  it 
was  late  in  August.  The  day  was  waning  and  we  had  a 
long  ride  back  to  the  wagon,  each  with  a  buck  behind  his 
saddle.  When  we  came  back  to  the  river  valley  it  was 
pitch  dark,  and  it  was  rather  ticklish  work  for  our  heavily 
laden  horses  to  pick  their  way  down  the  steep  bluffs  and 
over  the  rapid  stream  ;  nor  were  we  sorry  when  we  saw 


178  The  Black-Tail  Deer. 

ahead  under  a  bluff  the  gleam  of  the  camp  fire,  as  it  was 
reflected  back  from  the  canvas-topped  prairie  schooner, 
that  for  the  time  being  represented  home  to  us. 

This  was  much  the  best  shot  I  ever  made ;  and  it  is  just 
such  a  shot  as  any  one  will  occasionally  make  if  he  takes 
a  good  many  chances  and  fires  often  at  ranges  where  the 
odds  are  greatly  against  his  hitting.  I  suppose  I  had 
fired  a  dozen  times  at  animals  four  or  five  hundred  yards 
off,  and  now,  by  the  doctrine  of  chances,  I  happened  to 
hit ;  but  I  would  have  been  very  foolish  if  I  had  thought 
for  a  moment  that  I  had  learned  how  to  hit  at  over  four 
hundred  yards.  I  have  yet  to  see  the  hunter  who  can  hit 
with  any  regularity  at  that  distance,  when  he  has  to  judge 
it  for  himself ;  though  I  have  seen  plenty  who  could  make 
such  a  long  range  hit  now  and  then.  And  I  have  noticed 
that  such  a  hunter,  in  talking  over  his  experience,  was 
certain  soon  to  forget  the  numerous  misses  he  made,  and 
to  say,  and  even  to  actually  think,  that  his  occasional  hits 
represented  his  average  shooting. 

One  of  the  finest  black-tail  bucks  I  ever  shot  was 
killed  while  lying  out  in  a  rather  unusual  place.  I  was 
hunting  mountain-sheep,  in  a  stretch  of  very  high  and 
broken  country,  and  about  mid-day,  crept  cautiously  up 
to  the  edge  of  a  great  gorge,  whose  sheer  walls  went 
straight  down  several  hundred  feet.  Peeping  over  the 
brink  of  the  chasm  I  saw  a  buck,  lying  out  on  a  ledge 
so  narrow  as  to  barely  hold  him,  right  on  the  face  of 
the  cliff  wall  opposite,  some  distance  below,  and  about 
seventy  yards  diagonally  across  from  me.  He  lay  with 
his  legs  half  stretched  out,  and  his  head  turned  so  as 


The  Black-Tail  Deer. 


179 


to  give  me  an  exact  centre-shot  at  his  forehead ;  the 
bullet  going  in  between  his  eyes,  so  that  his  legs  hardly 
so  much  as  twitched  when  he  received  it.  It  was  toil- 
some and  almost  dangerous  work  climbing  out  to  where 
he  lay  ;  I  have  never  known  any  other  individual,  even 
of  this  bold  and  adventurous  species  of  deer,  to  take  its 
noonday  siesta  in  a  place  so  barren  of  all  cover  and  so  dif- 
ficult of  access  even  to  the  most  sure-footed  climber.  This 
buck  was  as  fat  as  a  prize  sheep,  and  heavier  than  any 
other  I  have  ever  killed  ;  while  his  antlers  also  were,  with 
two  exceptions,  the  best  I  ever  got. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


A    TRIP    ON    THE    PRAIRIE. 


O  antelope  are  found,  except 
rarely,  immediately  round 
my  ranch-house,  where  the 
ground  is  much  too  broken 
to  suit  them  ;  but  on  the 
great  prairies,  ten  or  fifteen 
miles  ofT,  they  are  plen- 
tiful, though  far  from  as  abun- 
dant as  they  were  a  few  years  ago  when  the  cattle 
were  first  driven  into  the  land.  By  plainsmen  they 
are  called  either  prong-horn  or  antelope,  but  are  most 
often  known  by  the  latter  and  much  less  descriptive 
title.  Where  they  are  found  they  are  always  very 
conspicuous  figures  in  the  landscape  ;  for,  far  from  at- 
tempting to  conceal  itself,  an  antelope  really  seems 
anxious  to  take  up  a  prominent  position,  caring  only 
to  be  able  to  itself  see  its  foes.  It  is  the  smallest  in  size  of 
the  plains  game,  even  smaller  than  a  white-tail  deer ;  and  its 
hide  is  valueless,  being  thin  and  porous,  and  making  very 

180 


A   Trip  on  the  Prairie.  181 

poor  buckskin.  In  its  whole  appearance  and  structure  it 
is  a  most  singular  creature.  Unlike  all  other  hollow- 
horned  animals,  it  sheds  it  horns  annually,  exactly  as  the 
deer  shed  their  solid  antlers  ;  but  the  shedding  process  in 
the  prong-horn  occupies  but  a  very  few  days,  so  short  a 
a  time,  indeed,  that  many  hunters  stoutly  deny  that  it 
takes  place  at  all.  The  hair  is  of  remarkable  texture, 
very  long,  coarse,  and  brittle  ;  in  the  spring  it  comes  off 
in  handfuls.  In  strong  contrast  to  the  reddish  yellow  of 
the  other  parts  of  the  body,  the  rump  is  pure  white,  and 
when  alarmed  or  irritated  every  hair  in  the  white  patch 
bristles  up  on  end,  greatly  increasing  the  apparent  area  of 
the  color.  The  flesh,  unlike  that  of  any  other  plains  animal, 
is  equally  good  all  through  the  year,  In  the  fall  it  is 
hardly  so  juicy  as  deer  venison,  but  in  the  spring,  when 
no  other  kind  of  game  is  worth  eating,  it  is  perfectly 
good  ;  and  at  that  time  of  the  year,  if  we  have  to  get 
fresh  meat,  we  would  rather  kill  antelope  than  any  thing 
else  ;  and  as  the  bucks  are  always  to  be  instantly  distin- 
tinguished  from  the  does  by  their  large  horns,  we  confine 
ourselves  to  them,  and  so  work  no  harm  to  the  species. 

The  antelope  is  a  queer-looking  rather  than  a  beauti- 
ful animal.  The  curious  pronged  horns,  great  bulging 
eyes,  and  strange  bridle-like  marks  and  bands  on  the  face 
and  throat  are  more  striking,  but  less  handsome,  than  the 
delicate  head  and  branching  antlers  of  a  deer  ;  and  it  en- 
tirely lacks  the  latter  animal's  grace  of  movement.  In  its 
form  and  look,  when  standing  still,  it  is  rather  angular 
and  goat-like,  and  its  movements  merely  have  the  charm 
that  comes  from  lightness,  speed,  and  agility.  Its  gait  is 


182  A   Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

singularly  regular  and  even,  without  any  of  the  bounding, 
rolling  movement  of  a  deer ;  and  it  is,  consequently,  very 
easy  to  hit  running,  compared  with  other  kinds  of  game. 

Antelope  possess  a  most  morbid  curiosity.  The 
appearance  of  any  thing  out  of  the  way,  or  to  which 
they  are  not  accustomed,  often  seems  to  drive  them 
nearly  beside  themselves  with  mingled  fright  and  desire 
to  know  what  it  is,  a  combination  of  feelings  that  throws 
them  into  a  perfect  panic,  during  whose  continuance  they 
will  at  times  seem  utterly  unable  to  take  care  of  them- 
selves. In  very  remote,  wild  places,  to  which  no  white 
man  often  penetrates,  the  appearance  of  a  white-topped 
wagon  will  be  enough  to  excite  this  feeling  in  the  prong- 
horn,  and  in  such  cases  it  is  not  unusual  for  a  herd  to 
come  up  and  circle  round  the  strange  object  heedless 
of  rifle-shots.  This  curiosity  is  particularly  strong  in  the 
bucks  during  rutting-time,  and  one  method  of  hunting 
them  is  to  take  advantage  of  it,  and  "flag"  them  up  to 
the  hunters  by  waving  a  red  handkerchief  or  some  other 
object  to  and  fro  in  the  air.  In  very  wild  places  they  can 
sometimes  be  flagged  up,  even  after  they  have  seen  the 
man ;  but,  elsewhere,  the  latter  must  keep  himself  care- 
fully concealed  behind  a  ridge  or  hillock,  or  in  tall  grass, 
and  keep  cautiously  waving  the  handkerchief  overhead. 
The  antelope  will  look  fixedly  at  it,  stamp,  snort,  start 
away,  come  nearer  by  fits  and  starts,  and  run  from  one 
side  to  the  other,  the  better  to  see  it.  Sometimes  a  wary 
old  buck  will  keep  this  up  for  half  an  hour,  and  at  the 
end  make  off;  but,  again,  the  attraction  may  prove  too 
strong,  and  the  antelope  comes  slowly  on  until  within 


A   Trip  on  the  Prairie.  183 

rifle-shot.  This  method  of  hunting,  however,  is  not  so 
much  practised  now  as  formerly,  as  the  antelope  are 
getting  continually  shyer  and  more  difficult  to  flag.  I 
have  never  myself  shot  one  in  this  manner,  though  I  have 
often  seen  the  feat  performed,  and  have  several  times 
tried  it  myself,  but  always  with  the  result  that  after  I  had 
made  my  arm  really  weak  with  waving  the  handkerchief 
to  and  fro,  the  antelope,  which  had  been  shifting  about 
just  out  of  range,  suddenly  took  to  its  heels  and  made  off. 
No  other  kind  of  plains  game,  except  the  big-horn,  is 
as  shy  and  sharp-sighted  as  the  antelope ;  and  both  its 
own  habits  and  the  open  nature  of  the  ground  on  which 
it  is  found  render  it  peculiarly  difficult  to  stalk.  There  is 
no  cover,  and  if  a  man  is  once  seen  by  the  game  the 
latter  will  not  let  him  get  out  of  sight  again,  unless  it 
decides  to  go  off  at  a  gait  that  soon  puts  half  a  dozen 
miles  between  them.  It  shifts  its  position,  so  as  to  keep 
the  hunter  continually  in  sight,  Thus,  if  it  is  standing 
on  a  ridge,  and  the  hunter  disappear  into  a  ravine  up 
which  he  intends  to  crawl,  the  antelope  promptly  gallops 
off  to  some  other  place  of  observation  from  which  its  foe 
is  again  visible ;  and  this  is  repeated  until  the  animal 
at  last  makes  up  its  mind  to  start  for  good.  It  keeps 
up  an  incessant  watch,  being  ever  on  the  look-out  for 
danger,  far  or  near ;  and  as  it  can  see  an  immense  dis- 
tance, and  has  its  home  on  ground  so  level  that  a  horse- 
man can  be  made  out  a  mile  off,  its  attention  is  apt  to  be 
attracted  when  still  four  or  five  rifle-shots  beyond  range, 
and  after  it  has  once  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  foe,  the 
latter  might  as  well  give  up  all  hopes  of  getting  the 
game. 


184  A   Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

But  while  so  much  more  wary  than  deer,  it  is  also 
at  times  much  more  foolish,  and  has  certain  habits — 
some  of  which,  such  as  its  inordinate  curiosity  and 
liability  to  panic,  have  already  been  alluded  to — that  tend 
to  its  destruction.  Ordinarily,  it  is  a  far  more  difficult 
feat  to  kill  an  antelope  than  it  is  to  kill  a  deer,  but  there 
are  times  when  the  former  can  be  slaughtered  in  such 
numbers  that  it  becomes  mere  butchery. 

The  prong-horn  is  pre-eminently  a  gregarious  animal. 
It  is  found  in  bands  almost  all  the  year  through.  During 
the  two  or  three  days  after  he  has  shed  his  horns  and 
while  the  new  ones  are  growing  the  buck  retires  to  some 
out-of-the-way  spot,  and  while  bringing  forth  her  fawns  the 
doe  stays  by  herself.  But  as  soon  as  possible  each  again 
rejoins  the  band  ;  and  the  fawns  become  members  of  it  at 
a  remarkably  early  age.  In  the  late  fall,  when  the  bitter 
cold  has  begun,  a  large  number  of  these  bands  collect 
together,  and  immense  herds  are  formed  which  last  through- 
out the  winter.  Thus  at  this  season  a  man  may  travel  for. 
days  through  regions  where  antelope  are  most  plentiful 
during  the  hot  months  and  never  see  one  ;  but  if  he  does 
come  across  any  they  will  be  apt  to  be  in  great  num- 
bers, most  probably  along  the  edge  of  the  Bad  Lands, 
where  the  ground  is  rolling  rather  than  broken,  but  where 
there  is  some  shelter  from  the  furious  winter  gales.  Often 
they  will  even  come  down  to  the  river  bottom  or  find  their 
way  up  to  some  plateau.  They  now  always  hang  closely 
about  the  places  they  have  chosen  for  their  winter  haunts, 
and  seem  very  reluctant  to  leave  them.  They  go  in  dense 
herds,  and  when  starved  and  weak  with  cold  are  less  shy ; 


A    Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

and  can  often  be  killed  in  great  numbers  by  any  one 
who  has  found  out  where  they  are — though  a  true  sports- 
man will  not  molest  them  at  this  season. 

Sometimes  a  small  number  of  individuals  will  at  this 
time  get  separated  from  the  main  herd  and  take  up 
their  abode  in  some  place  by  themselves ;  and  when 
they  have  once  done  so  it  is  almost  impossible  to  drive 
them  away.  Last  winter  a  solitary  prong-horn  strayed 
into  the  river  bottom  at  the  mouth  of  a  wide  creek- 
valley,  half  a  mile  from  my  ranch,  and  stayed  there  for 
three  months,  keeping  with  the  cattle,  and  always  being 
found  within  a  mile  of  the  same  spot.  A  little  band 
at  the  same  time  established  itself  on  a  large  plateau, 
about  five  miles  long  by  two  miles  wide,  some  distance  up 
the  river  above  me,  and  afforded  fine  sport  to  a  couple  of 
ranchmen  who  lived  not  far  from  its  base.  The  antelope, 
twenty  or  thirty  in  number,  would  not  leave  the  plateau, 
which  lies  in  the  midst  of  broken  ground  ;  for  it  is  a  peculi- 
arity of  these  animals,  which  will  be  spoken  of  further  on, 
that  they  will  try  to  keep  in  the  open  ground  at  any  cost 
or  hazard.  The  two  ranchmen  agreed  never  to  shoot  at 
the  antelope  on  foot,  but  only  to  try  to  kill  them  from 
horseback,  either  with  their  revolvers  or  their  Winchesters. 
They  thus  hunted  them  for  the  sake  of  the  sport  purely ; 
and  certainly  they  got  plenty  of  fun  out  of  them.  Very 
few  horses  indeed  are  as  fast  as  a  prong-horn ;  and 
these  few  did  not  include  any  owned  by  either  of 
my  two  friends.  But  the  antelope  were  always  being 
obliged  to  break  back  from  the  edge  of  the  plateau, 
and  so  were  forced  constantly  to  offer  opportunities 


/86  A   Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

for  cutting  them  off;  and  these  opportunities  were  still 
further  increased  by  the  two  hunters  separating.  One 
of  them  would  go  to  the  upper  end  of  the  plateau 
and  start  the  band,  riding  after  them  at  full  speed. 
They  would  distance  him,  but  would  be  checked  in  their 
career  by  coming  to  the  brink  of  the  cliff;  then  they 
would  turn  at  an  angle  and  give  their  pursuer  a  chance  to 
cut  them  off;  and  if  they  kept  straight  up  the  middle  the 
other  hunter  would  head  them.  When  a  favorable  moment 
came  the  hunters  would  dash  in  as  close  as  possible  and 
empty  their  revolvers  or  repeaters  into  the  herd  ;  but  it  is 
astonishing  how  hard  it  is,  when  riding  a  horse  at  full 
speed,  to  hit  any  object,  unless  it  is  directly  under  the 
muzzle  of  the  weapon.  The  number  of  cartridges  spent 
compared  to  the  number  of  prong-horn  killed  was  enor- 
mous ;  but  the  fun  and  excitement  of  the  chase  were  the 
main  objects  with  my  friends,  to  whom  the  actual  killing 
of  the  game  was  of  entirely  secondary  importance.  They 
went  out  after  them  about  a  dozen  times  during  the  winter, 
and  killed  in  all  ten  or  fifteen  prong-horns. 

A  prong-horn  is  by  far  the  fleetest  animal  on  the 
plains  ;  one  can  outrun  and  outlast  a  deer  with  the  greatest 
ease.  Very  swift  greyhounds  can  overtake  them,  if  hunted 
in  leashes  or  couples  ;  but  only  a  remarkably  good  dog 
can  run  one  down  single-handed.  Besides  prong-horn 
are  most  plucky  little  creatures,  and  will  make  a  most  reso- 
lute fight  against  a  dog  or  wolf,  striking  with  their  fore- 
feet and  punching  with  their  not  very  formidable  horns, 
and  are  so  quick  and  wiry  as  to  be  really  rather  hard  to 
master. 


A   Trip  on  the  Prairie.  187 

Antelope  have  the  greatest  objection  to  going  on  any 
thing  but  open  ground,  and  seem  to  be  absolutely  unable 
to  make  a  high  jump.  If  a  band  is  caught  feeding  in  the 
bottom  of  a  valley  leading  into  a  plain  they  invariably 
make  a  rush  straight  to  the  mouth,  even  if  the  foe  is 
stationed  there,  and  will  run  heedlessly  by  him,  no  matter 
how  narrow  the  mouth  is,  rather  than  not  try  to  reach  the 
open  country.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  force  them  into 
even  a  small  patch  of  brush,  and  they  will  face  almost 
certain  death  rather  than  try  to  leap  a  really  very  trifling 
obstacle.  If  caught  in  a  glade  surrounded  by  a  slight 
growth  of  brushwood,  they  make  no  effort  whatever  to  get 
through  or  over  this  growth,  but  dash  frantically  out 
through  the  way  by  which  they  got  in.  Often  the  deer, 
especially  the  black-tail,  will  wander  out  on  the  edge  of 
the  plain  frequented  by  antelope  ;  and  it  is  curious  to  see 
the  two  animals  separate  the  second  there  is  an  alarm, 
the  deer  making  for  the  broken  country,  while  the  ante- 
lope scud  for  the  level  plains.  Once  two  of  my  men 
nearly  caught  a  couple  of  antelope  in  their  hands.  They 
were  out  driving  in  the  buck-board,  and  saw  two  antelope, 
a  long  distance  ahead,  enter  the  mouth  of  a  wash-out  (a 
canyon  in  petto)  ;  they  had  strayed  away  from  the  prairie 
to  the  river  bottom,  and  were  evidently  feeling  lost.  My 
two  men  did  not  think  much  of  the  matter  but  when  oppo- 
site the  mouth  of  the  wash-out,  which  was  only  thirty  feet 
or  so  wide,  they  saw  the  two  antelope  starting  to  come  out 
having  found  that  it  was  a  blind  passage,  with  no  outlet 
at  the  other  end.  Both  men  jumped  out  of  the  buck-board 
and  ran  to  the  entrance ;  the  two  antelope  dashed  franti- 


1 88  A   Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

cally  to  and  fro  inside  the  wash-out.  The  sides  were  steep, 
but  a  deer  would  have  scaled  them  at  once  ;  yet  the  ante- 
lope seemed  utterly  unable  to  do  this,  and  finally  broke  out 
past  the  two  men  and  got  away.  They  came  so  close  that 
the  men  were  able  to  touch  each  of  them,  but  their  move- 
ments were  too  quick  to  permit  of  their  being  caught. 

However,  though  unable  to  leap  any  height,  an  ante- 
lope can  skim  across  a  level  jump  like  a  bird,  and  will  go 
over  water-courses  and  wash-outs  that  very  few  horses 
indeed  will  face.  A  mountain-sheep,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  a  marvellous  vertical  leaper ;  the  black-tail  deer  comes 
next ;  the  white-tail  is  pretty  good,  and  the  elk  is  at  any 
rate  better  than  the  antelope  ;  but  when  it  comes  to  hori- 
zontal jumping  the  latter  can  beat  them  all. 

In  May  or  early  June  the  doe  brings  forth  her  fawns, 
usually  two  in  number,  for  she  is  very  prolific.  She  makes 
her  bed  in  some  valley  or  hollow,  and  keeps  with  the  rest 
of  the  band,  only  returning  to  the  fawns  to  feed  them. 
They  lie  out  in  the  grass  or  under  some  slight  bush,  but 
are  marvellously  hard  to  find.  By  instinct  they  at  once 
know  how  to  crouch  down  so  as  to  be  as  inconspicuous  as 
possible.  Once  we  scared  away  a  female  prong-horn  from 
an  apparently  perfectly  level  hill-side  ;  and  in  riding  along 
passed  over  the  spot  she  had  left  and  came  upon  two  lit- 
tle fawns  that  could  have  been  but  a  few  hours  old.  They 
lay  flat  in  the  grass,  with  their  legs  doubled  under  them 
and  their  necks  and  heads  stretched  out  on  the  ground. 
When  we  took  them  up  and  handled  them,  they  soon  got 
used  to  us  and  moved  awkwardly  round,  but  at  any  sud- 
den noise  or  motion  they  would  immediately  squat  flat 


A    Trip  on  the  Prairie.  189 

down  again.  But  at  a  very  early  age  the  fawns  learn  how 
to  shift  for  themselves,  and  can  then  run  almost  as  fast  as 
their  parents,  even  when  no  larger  than  a  jack-rabbit. 
Once,  while  we  were  haying,  a  couple  of  my  cow-boys 
spent  half  an  hour  in  trying  to  run  down  and  capture  a 
little  fawn,  but  they  were  unable  to  catch  it,  it  ran  so  fast 
and  ducked  about  so  quickly.  Antelope  fawns  are  very 
easily  tamed  and  make  most  amusing  pets.  We  have  had 
two  or  three,  but  have  never  succeeded  in  rearing  any  of 
them  ;  but  some  of  the  adjoining  ranchmen  have  been 
more  fortunate.  They  are  not  nearly  so  pretty  as  deer 
fawns,  having  long,  gangling  legs  and  angular  bodies,  but 
they  are  much  more  familiar  and  interesting.  One  of  my 
neighbors  has  three  live  prong-horns,  as  well  as  two  little 
spotted  white-tail  deer.  The  deer  fawns  are  always  skulk- 
ing about,  and  are  by  no  means  such  bold  inquisitive  little 
creatures  as  the  small  antelope  are.  The  latter  have  a 
nurse  in  the  shape  of  a  fat  old  ewe  ;  and  it  is  funny  to 
see  her,  when  alarmed,  running  off  at  a  waddling  gait, 
while  her  ungainly  little  foster-children  skip  round  and 
round  her,  cutting  the  most  extraordinary  antics.  There 
are  a  couple  of  very  large  dogs,  mastiffs,  on  the  place, 
whose  natural  solemnity  is  completely  disconcerted  by  the 
importunities  and  fearlessness  of  the  little  antelope  fawns. 
Where  one  goes  the  other  two  always  follow  ;  and  so  one 
of  the  mastiffs,  while  solemnly  blinking  in  the  sun,  will 
suddenly  find  himself  charged  at  full  speed  by  the  three 
queer  little  creatures,  who  will  often  fairly  butt  up  against 
him.  The  uneasy  look  of  the  dog,  and  his  efforts  to  get 
out  of  the  way  without  compromising  his  dignity,  are 
really  very  comical. 


190  A   Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

Young  fawns  seem  to  give  out  no  scent,  and  thus  many 
of  them  escape  from  the  numerous  carnivorous  beasts  that 
are  ever  prowling  about  at  night  over  the  prairie,  and 
which,  during  the  spring  months,  are  always  fat  from  feed- 
ing on  the  bodies  of  the  innocents  they  have  murdered. 
If  discovered  by  a  fox  or  coyote  during  its  first  few  days 
of  existence  a  little  fawn  has  no  chance  of  life,  although 
the  mother,  if  present,  will  fight  desperately  for  it ;  but 
after  it  has  acquired  the  use  of  its  legs  it  has  no  more  to 
fear  than  have  any  of  the  older  ones. 

Sometimes  the  fawns  fall  victims  to  the  great  Golden 
Eagle.  This  grand  bird,  the  War  Eagle  of  the  Sioux, 
is  not  very  common  in  the  Bad  Lands,  but  is  sometimes 
still  seen  with  us ;  and,  as  everywhere  else,  its  mere 
presence  adds  a  certain  grandeur  to  its  lonely  haunts. 
Two  or  three  years  ago  a  nest  was  found  by  one  of  my 
men  on  the  face  of  an  almost  inaccessible  cliff,  and  a 
young  bird  was  taken  out  from  it  and  reared  in  a  roughly 
extemporized  cage.  Wherever  the  eagle  exists  it  holds 
undisputed  sway  over  every  thing  whose  size  does  not 
protect  it  from  the  great  bird's  beak  and  talons  ;  not  only 
does  it  feed  on  hares,  grouse,  and  ducks,  but  it  will  also 
attack  the  young  fawns  of  the  deer  and  antelope.  Still, 
the  eagle  is  but  an  occasional  foe,  and  aside  from  man,  the 
only  formidable  enemies  the  antelope  has  to  fear  are  the 
wolves  and  coyotes.  These  are  very  destructive  to  the 
young,  and  are  always  lounging  about  the  band  to  pick  up 
any  wounded  straggler ;  in  winter,  when  the  ground  is 
slippery  and  the  antelope  numbed  and  weak,  they  will 
often  commit  great  havoc  even  among  those  that  are 
grown  up. 


A   Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

The  voice  of  the  antelope  is  not  at  all  like  that  of  the 
deer.  Insteadiof  bleating  it  utters  a  quick,  harsh  noise,  a 
kind  of  bark ;  a  little  like  the  sound  "  kau,"  sharply  and 
clearly  repeated.  It  can  be  heard  a  long  distance  off;  and 
is  usually  uttered  when  the  animal  is  a  little  startled  or 
surprised  by  the  presence  of  something  it  does  not  under- 
stand. 

The  prong-horn  cannot  go  without  water  any  longer 
than  a  deer  can,  and  will  go  great  distances  to  get  it ;  for 
space  is  nothing  to  a  traveller  with  such  speed  and  such 
last.  No  matter  how  dry  and  barren  may  be  the  desert  in 
which  antelope  are  found,  it  may  be  taken  for  granted  that 
they  are  always  within  reaching  distance  of  some  spring  or 
pool  of  water,  and  that  they  visit  it  once  a  day.  Once  or 
twice  I  have  camped  out  by  some  pool,  which  was  the  only 
one  for  miles  around,  and  in  every  such  case  have  been 
surprised  at  night  by  the  visits  of  the  antelope,  who,  on 
finding  that  their  drinking-place  was  tenanted,  would 
hover  round  at  a  short  distance,  returning  again  and  again 
and  continually  uttering  the  barking  "kau,  kau,"  until 
they  became  convinced  that  there  was  no  hope  of  their 
getting  in,  when  they  would  set  off  at  a  run  for  some 
other  place. 

Prong-horn  perhaps  prefer  the  rolling  prairies  of  short 
grass  as  their  home,  but  seem  to  do  almost  equally  well  on 
the  desolate  and  monotonous  wastes  where  the  sage-brush 
and  prickly  pear  and  a  few  blades  of  coarse  grass  are  the 
only  signs  of  plant  life  to  be  seen.  In  such  places,  the 
prong-horn,  the  sage  cock,  the  rattlesnake,  and  the  horned 
frog  alone  are  able  to  make  out  a  livelihood. 


i92  A   Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

The  horned  frog  is  not  a  frog  at  all,  but  a  lizard, — 
a  queer,  stumpy  little  fellow  with  sp'v*  r^  all  over  the 
top  of  its  head  and  back,  and  given  to  moving  in  the 
most  leisurely  manner  imaginable.  Nothing  will  make  it 
hurry.  If  taken  home  it  becomes  a  very  tame  and  quaint 
but  also  very  uninteresting  little  pet. 

Rattlesnakes  are  only  too  plentiful  everywhere  ;  along 
the  river  bottoms,  in  the  broken,  hilly  ground,  and  on 
the  prairies  and  the  great  desert  wastes  alike.  Every 
cow-boy  kills  dozens  each  season.  To  a  man  wearing 
top-boots  there  is  little  or  no  danger  while  he  is  merely 
walking  about,  for  the  fangs  cannot  get  through  the 
leather,  and  the  snake  does  not  strike  as  high  as  the 
knee.  Indeed  the  rattlesnake  is  not  nearly  as  danger- 
ous as  are  most  poisonous  serpents,  for  it  always  gives 
fair  warning  before  striking,  and  is  both  sluggish  and 
timid.  If  it  can  it  will  get  out  of  the  way,  and  only 
coils  up  in  its  attitude  of  defence  when  it  believes  that 
it  is  actually  menaced.  It  is,  of  course,  however,  both 
a  dangerous  and  a  disagreeable  neighbor,  and  one  of 
its  annoying  traits  is  the  fondness  it  displays  for  crawl- 
ing into  a  hut  or  taking  refuge  among  the  blankets 
left  out  on  the  ground.  Except  in  such  cases  men 
are  rarely  in  danger  from  it,  unless  they  happen  to 
be  stooping  over,  as  was  the  case  with  one  of  my  cow- 
boys who  had  leaned  over  to  pick  up  a  log,  and  was 
almost  bitten  by  a  snake  which  was  underneath  it ;  or 
unless  the  snake  is  encountered  while  stalking  an  animal. 
Once  I  was  creeping  up  to  an  antelope  under  cover  of  some 
very  low  sage-brush — so  low  that  I  had  to  lie  flat  on  my 


A   Trip  on  the  Prairie.  J93 

face  and  push  myself  along  with  my  hands  and  feet. 
While  cautiously  moving  on  in  this  way  I  was  electrified 
by  hearing  almost  by  my  ears  the  well-known,  ominous 
"  whir-r-r  "  of  a  rattlesnake,  and  on  hastily  glancing  up 
there  was  the  reptile,  not  ten  feet  away  from  me,  all 
coiled  up  and  waiting.  I  backed  off  and  crawled  to  one 
side,  the  rattler  turning  its  head  round  to  keep  watch  over 
my  movements ;  when  the  stalk  was  over  (the  antelope 
took  alarm  and  ran  off  before  I  was  within  rifle-shot)  I 
came  back,  hunted  up  the  snake,  and  killed  it.  Although 
I  have  known  of  several  men  being  bitten,  I  know  of  but 
one  case  where  the  bite  caused  the  death  of  a  human 
being.  This  was  a  girl  who  had  been  out  milking,  and 
was  returning,  in  bare  feet ;  the  snake  struck  her  just 
above  the  ankle,  and  in  her  fright  she  fell  and  was  struck 
again  in  the  neck.  The  double  wound  was  too  much  for 
her,  and  the  poison  killed  her  in  the  course  of  a  couple  of 
hours. 

Occasionally  one  meets  a  rattlesnake  whose  rattle  has 
been  lost  or  injured  ;  and  such  a  one  is  always  dangerous, 
because  it  strikes  without  warning.  I  once  nearly  lost  a 
horse  by  the  bite  of  one  of  these  snakes  without  rattles. 
I  was  riding  along  a  path  when  my  horse  gave  a  tre- 
mendous start  and  jump  ;  looking  back  I  saw  that  it  had 
been  struck  at  by  a  rattlesnake  with  an  injured  tail,  which 
had  been  lying  hid  in  a  bunch  of  grass,  directly  beside  the 
path.  Luckily  it  had  merely  hit  the  hard  hoof,  breaking 
one  of  its  fangs. 

Horses  differ  very  much  in  their  conduct  toward 
snakes.  Some  show  great  fright  at  sight  of  them  or  on 


194          A   Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

hearing  their  rattles,  plunging  and  rearing  and  refusing  to 
go  anywhere  near  the  spot ;  while  others  have  no  fear 
of  them  at  all,  being  really  perfectly  stupid  about  them. 
Manitou  does  not  lose  his  wits  at  all  over  them,  but  at 
the  same  time  takes  very  good  care  not  to  come  within 
striking  distance. 

Ranchmen  often  suffer  some  loss  among  their  stock 
owing  to  snake-bites ;  both  horned  cattle  and  horses,  in 
grazing,  frequently  coming  on  snakes  and  having  their 
noses  or  cheeks  bitten.  Generally,  these  wounds  are  not 
fatal,  though  very  uncomfortable  ;  it  is  not  uncommon  to 
see  a  woe-begone  looking  mule  with  its  head  double  the 
natural  size,  in  consequence  of  having  incautiously  browsed 
over  a  snake.  A  neighbor  lost  a  weak  pony  in  this  way  ; 
and  one  of  our  best  steers  also  perished  from  the  same 
cause.  But  in  the  latter  case,  the  animal,  like  the  poor 
girl  spoken  of  above,  had  received  two  wounds  with  the 
poison  fangs ;  apparently  it  had,  while  grazing  with  its 
head  down,  been  first  struck  in  the  nose,  and  been  again 
struck  in  the  foreleg  as  it  started  away. 

Of  all  kinds  of  hunting,  the  chase  of  the  antelope  is 
pre-eminently  that  requiring  skill  in  the  use  of  the  rifle  at 
long  range.  The  distance  at  which  shots  have  to  be  taken 
in  antelope  hunting  is  at  least  double  the  ordinary  dis- 
tance at  which  deer  are  fired  at.  In  pursuing  most  other 
kinds  of  game,  a  hunter  who  is  not  a  good  shot  may  still 
do  excellent  work;  but  in  prong-horn  hunting,  no  man 
can  make  even  a  fairly  good  record  unless  he  is  a  skilful 
marksman.  I  have  myself  done  but  little  hunting  after 
antelopes,  and  have  not,  as  a  rule,  been  very  successful  in 
the  pursuit. 


A   Trip  on  the  Prairie.  195 

Ordinary  hounds  are  rarely,  or  never,  used  to 
chase  this  game  ;  but  coursing  it  with  greyhounds  is 
as  manly  and  exhilarating  a  form  of  sport  as  can  be 
imagined, — a  much  better  way  of  hunting  it  than  is 
shooting  it  with  the  rifle,  which  latter,  though  needing 
more  skill  in  the  actual  use  of  the  weapon,  is  in  every 
other  respect  greatly  inferior  as  a  sport  to  still-hunting 
the  black-tail  or  big-horn. 

I  never  but  once  took  a  trip  of  any  length  with  ante 
lope  hunting  for  its  chief  object.  This  was  one  June, 
when  all  the  men  were  away  on  the  round-up.  As  is  usual 
during  the  busy  half  of  the  ranchman's  year,  the  spring 
and  summer,  when  men  have  no  time  to  hunt  and  game 
is  out  of  condition,  we  had  been  living  on  salt  pork, 
beans,  potatoes,  and  bread ;  and  I  had  hardly  had  a 
rifle  in  my  hand  for  months  ;  so,  finding  I  had  a  few 
days  to  spare,  I  thought  I  should  take  a  short  trip  on  the 
prairie,  in  the  beautiful  June  weather,  and  get  a  little 
sport  and  a  little  fresh  meat  out  of  the  bands  of  prong- 
horn  bucks,  which  I  was  sure  to  encounter.  Intending  to 
be  gone  but  a  couple  of  days,  it  was  not  necessary  to  take 
many  articles.  Behind  my  saddle  I  carried  a  blanket  for 
bedding,  and  an  oil-skin  coat  to  ward  off  the  wet ;  a  large 
metal  cup  with  the  handle  riveted,  not  soldered,  on,  so 
that  water  could  be  boiled  in  it ;  a  little  tea  and  salt,  and 
some  biscuits  ;  and  a  small  water-proof  bag  containing  my 
half  dozen  personal  necessaries — not  forgetting  a  book. 
The  whole  formed  a  small,  light  pack,  very  little  encum- 
brance to  stout  old  Manitou.  In  June,  fair  weather  can 
generally  be  counted  on  in  the  dry  plains  country. 


i96  A    Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

I  started  in  the  very  earliest  morning,  when  the  in- 
tense brilliancy  of  the  stars  had  just  begun  to  pale  before 
the  first  streak  of  dawn.  By  the  time  I  left  the  river 
bottom  and  struck  off  up  the  valley  of  a  winding  creek, 
which  led  through  the  Bad  Lands,  the  eastern  sky  was 
growing  rosy ;  and  soon  the  buttes  and  cliffs  were  lit  up 
by  the  level  rays  of  the  cloudless  summer  sun.  The  air 
was  fresh  and  sweet,  and  odorous  with  the  sweet  scents  of 
the  spring-time  that  was  but  barely  passed ;  the  dew  lay 
heavy,  in  glittering  drops,  on  the  leaves  and  the  blades 
of  grass,  whose  vivid  green,  at  this  season,  for  a  short 
time  brightens  the  desolate  and  sterile-looking  wastes  of 
the  lonely  western  plains.  The  rose-bushes  were  all  in 
bloom,  and  their  pink  blossoms  clustered  in  every  point 
and  bend  of  the  stream ;  and  the  sweet,  sad  songs  of  the 
hermit  thrushes  rose  from  the  thickets,  while  the  meadow 
larks  perched  boldly  in  sight  as  they  uttered  their  louder 
and  more  cheerful  music.  The  round-up  had  passed  by 
our  ranch,  and  all  the  cattle  with  our  brands,  the  maltese 
cross  and  cut  dewlap,  or  the  elk-horn  and  triangle,  had 
been  turned  loose ;  they  had  not  yet  worked  away  from 
the  river,  and  I  rode  by  long  strings  of  them,  walking  in 
single  file  off  to  the  hills,  or  standing  in  groups  to  look  at 
me  as  I  passed. 

Leaving  the  creek  I  struck  off  among  a  region  of 
scoria  buttes,  the  ground  rising  into  rounded  hills  through 
whose  grassy  covering  the  red  volcanic  rock  showed  in 
places,  while  boulder-like  fragments  of  it  were  scattered 
all  through  the  valleys  between.  There  were  a  few  clumps 
of  bushes  here  and  there,  and  near  one  of  them  were  two 


A    Trip  on  the  Prairie.  197 

magpies,  who  lit  on  an  old  buffalo  skull,  bleached  white 
by  sun  and  snow.  Magpies  are  birds  that  catch  the  eye 
at  once  from  their  bold  black  and  white  plumage  and  long 
tails  ;  and  they  are  very  saucy  and  at  the  same  time  very 
cunning  and  shy.  In  spring  we  do  not  often  see  them ; 
but  in  the  late  fall  and  winter  they  will  come  close  round 
the  huts  and  out-buildings  on  the  look-out  for  any  thing  to 
eat.  If  a  deer  is  hung  up  and  they  can  get  at  it  they  will 
pick  it  to  pieces  with  their  sharp  bills ;  and  their  car- 
nivorous tastes  and  their  habit  of  coming  round  hunters' 
camps  after  the  game  that  is  left  out,  call  to  mind  their 
kinsman,  the  whiskey-jack  or  moose-bird  of  the  northern 
forests. 

After  passing  the  last  line  of  low,  rounded  scoria 
buttes,  the  horse  stepped  out  on  the  border  of  the  great, 
seemingly  endless  stretches  of  rolling  or  nearly  level 
prairie,  over  which  I  had  planned  to  travel  and  hunt  for 
the  next  two  or  three  days.  At  intervals  of  ten  or  a  dozen 
miles  this  prairie  was  crossed  by  dry  creeks,  with,  in  places 
in  their  beds,  pools  or  springs  of  water,  and  alongside  a 
spindling  growth  of  trees  and  bushes  ;  and  my  intention  was 
to  hunt  across  these  creeks,  and  camp  by  some  water-hole 
in  one  of  them  at  night. 

I  rode  over  the  land  in  a  general  southerly  course, 
bending  to  the  right  or  left  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
ground  and  the  likelihood  of  finding  game.  Most  of  the 
time  the  horse  kept  on  a  steady  single-foot,  but  this  was 
varied  by  a  sharp  lope  every  now  and  then,  to  ease  the 
muscles  of  both  steed  and  rider.  The  sun  was  well  up, 
and  its  beams  beat  fiercely  down  on  our  heads  from  out  of 


A    Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

the  cloudless  sky ;  for  at  this  season,  though  the  nights  and 
the  early  morning  and  late  evening  are  cool  and  pleasant, 
the  hours  around  noon  are  very  hot.  My  glass  was  slung 
alongside  the  saddle,  and  from  every  one  of  the  scattered 
hillocks  the  country  was  scanned  carefully  far  and  near ;  and 
the  greatest  caution  was  used  in  riding  up  over  any  divide, 
to  be  sure  that  no  game  on  the  opposite  side  was  scared 
by  the  sudden  appearance  of  my  horse  or  myself. 

Nowhere,  not  even  at  sea,  does  a  man  feel  more  lonely 
than  when  riding  over  the  far-reaching,  seemingly  never- 
ending  plains ;  and,  after  a  man  has  lived  a  little  while  on 
or  near  them,  their  very  vastness  and  loneliness  and  their 
melancholy  monotony  have  a  strong  fascination  for  him. 
The  landscape  seems  always  the  same,  and  after  the 
traveller  has  plodded  on  for  miles  and  miles  he  gets  to 
feel  as  if  the  distance  was  indeed  boundless.  As  far  as  the 
eye  can  see  there  is  no  break  ;  either  the  prairie  stretches 
out  into  perfectly  level  flats,  or  else  there  are  gentle, 
rolling  slopes,  whose  crests  mark  the  divides  between  the 
drainage  systems  of  the  different  creeks  ;  and  when  one  of 
these  is  ascended,  immediately  another  precisely  like  it 
takes  its  place  in  the  distance,  and  so  roll  succeeds  roll  in 
a  succession  as  interminable  as  that  of  the  waves  of  the 
ocean.  Nowhere  else  does  one  seem  so  far  off  from  all 
mankind  ;  the  plains  stretch  out  in  death-like  and  measure- 
less expanse,  and  as  he  journeys  over  them  they  will  for 
many  miles  be  lacking  in  all  signs  of  life.  Although  he 
can  see  so  far,  yet  all  objects  on  the  outermost  verge  of 
the  horizon,  even  though  within  the  ken  of  his  vision, 
look  unreal  and  strange;  for  there  is  no  shade  to  take 


A   Trip  on  the  Prairie.  199 

away  from  the  bright  glare,  and  at  a  little  distance  things 
seem  to  shimmer  and  dance  in  the  hot  rays  of  the  sun. 
The  ground  is  scorched  to  a  dull  brown,  and  against  its 
monotonous  expanse  any  objects  stand  out  with  a  prom- 
inence that  makes  it  difficult  to  judge  of  the  distance 
at  which  they  are.  A  mile  off  one  can  see,  through  the 
strange  shimmering  haze,  the  shadowy  white  outlines  of 
something  which  looms  vaguely  up  till  it  looks  as  large  as 
the  canvas-top  of  a  prairie  wagon ;  but  as  the  horseman 
comes  nearer  it  shrinks  and  dwindles  and  takes  clearer 
form,  until  at  last  it  changes  into  the  ghastly  staring  skull 
of  some  mighty  buffalo,  long  dead  and  gone  to  join  the 
rest  of  his  vanished  race. 

When  the  grassy  prairies  are  left  and  the  traveller  enters 
a  region  of  alkali  desert  and  sage-brush,  the  look  of  the 
country  becomes  even  more  grim  and  forbidding.  I  n  places 
the  alkali  forms  a  white  frost  on  the  ground  that  glances  in 
the  sunlight  like  the  surface  of  a  frozen  lake  ;  the  dusty  little 
sage-brush,  stunted  and  dried  up,  sprawls  over  the  parched 
ground,  from  which  it  can  hardly  extract  the  small  amount 
of  nourishment  necessary  for  even  its  weazened  life  ;  the 
spiny  cactus  alone  seems  to  be  really  in  its  true  home. 
Yet  even  in  such  places  antelope  will  be  found,  as  alert 
and  as  abounding  with  vivacious  life  as  elsewhere.  Owing 
to  the  magnifying  and  distorting  power  of  the  clear,  dry 
plains  air,  every  object,  no  matter  what  its  shape  or  color 
or  apparent  distance,  needs  the  closest  examination.  A 
magpie  sitting  on  a  white  skull,  or  a  couple  of  ravens,  will 
look,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  off,  like  some  curious  beast ;  and 
time  and  again  a  raw  hunter  will  try  to  stalk  a  lump  of 


200  A   Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

clay  or  a  burnt  stick  ;  and  after  being  once  or  twice  disap- 
pointed he  is  apt  to  rush  to  the  other  extreme,  and  conclude 
too  hastily  that  a  given  object  is  not  an  antelope,  when  it 
very  possibly  is. 

During  the  morning  I  came  in  sight  of  several  small 
bands  or  pairs  of  antelope.  Most  of  them  saw  me  as  soon 
as  or  before  I  saw  them,  and  after  watching  me  with  in- 
tense curiosity  as  long  as  I  was  in  sight  and  at  a  distance, 
made  off  at  once  as  soon  as  I  went  into  a  hollow  or 
appeared  to  be  approaching  too  near.  Twice,  in  scanning 
the  country  narrowly  with  the  glasses,  from  behind  a  shel- 
tering divide,  bands  of  prong-horn  were  seen  that  had 
not  discovered  me.  In  each  case  the  horse  was  at  once 
left  to  graze,  while  I  started  off  after  the  game,  nearly 
a  mile  distant.  For  the  first  half  mile  I  could  walk  up- 
right or  go  along  half  stooping ;  then,  as  the  distance 
grew  closer,  I  had  to  crawl  on  all  fours  and  keep  behind 
any  little  broken  bank,  or  take  advantage  of  a  small,  dry 
watercourse ;  and  toward  the  end  work  my  way  flat  on 
my  face,  wriggling  like  a  serpent,  using  every  stunted  sage- 
brush or  patch  of  cactus  as  a  cover,  bare-headed  under  the 
blazing  sun.  In  each  case,  after  nearly  an  hour's  irksome, 
thirsty  work,  the  stalk  failed.  One  band  simply  ran  off 
without  a  second's  warning,  alarmed  at  some  awkward 
movement  on  my  part,  and  without  giving  a  chance  for  a 
shot.  In  the  other  instance,  while  still  at  very  long  and  un- 
certain range,  I  heard  the  sharp  barking  alarm-note  of  one 
of  the  prong-horn  ;  the  whole  band  instantly  raising  their 
heads  and  gazing  intently  at  their  would-be  destroyer.  They 
were  a  very  long  way  off;  but,  seeing  it  was  hopeless  to  try 


A   Trip  on  the  Prairie.  201 

to  get  nearer  I  rested  my  rifle  over  a  little  mound  of  earth 
and  fired.  The  dust  came  up  in  a  puff  to  one  side  of 
the  nearest  antelope  ;  the  whole  band  took  a  few  jumps 
and  turned  again  ;  the  second  shot  struck  at  their  feet,  and 
they  went  off  like  so  many  race-horses,  being  missed  again 
as  they  ran.  I  sat  up  by  a  sage-brush  thinking  they  would 
of  course  not  come  back,  when  to  my  surprise  I  saw  them 
wheel  round  with  the  precision  of  a  cavalry  squadron,  all 
in  line  and  fronting  me,  the  white  and  brown  markings 
on  their  heads  and  throats  showing  like  the  facings  on 
soldiers'  uniforms  ;  and  then  back  they  came  charging  up 
till  again  within  long  range,  when  they  wheeled  their  line 
as  if  on  a  pivot  and  once  more  made  off,  this  time  for 
good,  not  heeding  an  ineffectual  fusillade  from  the  Win- 
chester. Antelope  often  go  through  a  series  of  regular 
evolutions,  like  so  many  trained  horsemen,  wheeling,  turn- 
ing, halting,  and  running  as  if  under  command  ;  and  their 
coming  back  to  again  run  the  (as  it  proved  very  harmless) 
gauntlet  of  my  fire  was  due  either  to  curiosity  or  to  one  of 
those  panicky  freaks  which  occasionally  seize  those  ordi- 
narily wary  animals,  and  cause  them  to  run  into  danger 
easily  avoided  by  creatures  commonly  much  more  readily 
approached  than  they  are.  I  had  fired  half  a  dozen  shots 
without  effect ;  but  while  no  one  ever  gets  over  his  feeling 
of  self-indignation  at  missing  an  easy  shot  at  close  quarters, 
any  one  who  hunts  antelope  and  is  not  of  a  disposition  so 
timid  as  never  to  take  chances,  soon  learns  that  he  has  to 
expect  to  expend  a  good  deal  of  powder  and  lead  before 
bagging  his  game. 

By  mid-day  we  reached  a  dry  creek  and  followed  up  its 


202  A   Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

course  for  a  mile  or  so,  till  a  small  spot  of  green  in  the  side 
of  a  bank  showed  the  presence  of  water,  a  little  pool 
of  which  lay  underneath.  The  ground  was  so  rotten  that 
it  was  with  difficulty  I  could  get  Manitou  down  where  he 
could  drink  ;  but  at  last  both  of  us  satisfied  our  thirst,  and 
he  was  turned  loose  to  graze,  with  his  saddle  off,  so  as  to 
cool  his  back,  and  I,  after  eating  a  biscuit,  lay  on  my  face 
on  the  ground — there  was  no  shade  of  any  sort  near — and 
dozed  until  a  couple  of  hours'  rest  and  feed  had  put  the 
horse  in  good  trim  for  the  afternoon  ride.  When  it  came 
to  crossing  over  the  dry  creek  on  whose  bank  we  had 
rested,  we  almost  went  down  in  a  quicksand,  and  it  was 
only  by  frantic  struggles  and  flounderings  that  we  man- 
aged to  get  over. 

On  account  of  these  quicksands  and  mud-holes,  cross- 
ing the  creeks  on  the  prairie  is  often  very  disagreeable 
work.  Even  when  apparently  perfectly  dry  the  bottom 
may  have  merely  a  thin  crust  of  hard  mud  and  underneath  a 
fathomless  bed  of  slime.  If  the  grass  appears  wet  and  with 
here  and  there  a  few  tussocks  of  taller  blades  in  it,  it  is 
well  to  avoid  it.  Often  a  man  may  have  to  go  along  a 
creek  nearly  a  mile  before  he  can  find  a  safe  crossing, 
or  else  run  the  risk  of  seeing  his  horse  mired  hard  and 
fast.  When  a  horse  is  once  in  a  mud-hole  it  will  perhaps 
so  exhaust  itself  by  its  first  desperate  and  fruitless 
struggle  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  it  out.  Its 
bridle  and  saddle  have  to  be  taken  off;  if  another  horse  is 
along  the  lariat  is  drawn  from  the  pommel  of  the  latter's 
saddle  to  the  neck  of  the  one  that  is  in,  and  it  is  hauled 
out  by  main  force.  Otherwise  a  man  may  have  to  work 


A    Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

half  a  day,  fixing  the  horse's  legs  in  the  right  position  and 
then  taking  it  by  the  forelock  and  endeavoring  to  get 
it  to  make  a  plunge ;  each  plunge  bringing  it  perhaps 
a  few  inches  nearer  the  firm  ground.  Quicksands  are  even 
more  dangerous  than  these  mud-holes,  as,  if  at  all  deep,  a 
creature  that  cannot  get  out  immediately  is  sure  to  be 
speedily  engulfed.  Many  parts  of  the  Little  Missouri  are 
impassable  on  account  of  these  quicksands.  Always  in 
crossing  unknown  ground  that  looks  dangerous  it  is  best 
to  feel  your  way  very  cautiously  along,  and,  if  possible,  to 
find  out  some  cattle  trail  or  even  game  trail  which  can  be 
followed. 

For  some  time  after  leaving  the  creek  nothing  was 
seen  ;  until,  on  coming  over  the  crest  of  the  next  great 
divide,  I  came  in  sight  of  a  band  of  six  or  eight  prong-horn 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  off  to  my  right  hand.  There 
was  a  slight  breeze  from  the  southeast,  which  blew 
diagonally  across  my  path  towards  the  antelopes.  The 
latter,  after  staring  at  me  a  minute,  as  I  rode  slowly  on, 
suddenly  started  at  full  speed  to  run  directly  up  wind,  and 
therefore  in  a  direction  that  would  cut  the  line  of  my 
course  less  than  half  a  mile  ahead  of  where  I  was.  Know- 
ing that  when  antelope  begin  running  in  a  straight  line 
they  are  very  hard  to  turn,  and  seeing  that  they  would 
have  to  run  a  longer  distance  than  my  horse  would  to 
intercept  them,  I  clapped  spurs  into  Manitou,  and  the 
game  old  fellow,  a  very  fleet  runner,  stretched  himself 
down  to  the  ground  and  seemed  to  go  almost  as  fast  as 
the  quarry.  As  I  had  expected,  the  latter,  when  they  saw 
me  running,  merely  straightened  themselves  out  and  went 


204  A   Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

on,  possibly  even  faster  than  before,  without  changing  the 
line  of  their  flight,  keeping  right  up  wind.  Both  horse  and 
antelope  fairly  flew  over  the  ground,  their  courses  being  at 
an  angle  that  would  certainly  bring  them  together.  Two 
of  the  antelope  led,  by  some  fifty  yards  or  so,  the  others, 
who  were  all  bunched  together.  Nearer  and  nearer  we 
came,  Manitou,  in  spite  of  carrying  myself  and  the  pack 
behind  the  saddle,  gamely  holding  his  own,  while  the 
antelope,  with  outstretched  necks,  went  at  an  even,  regu- 
lar gait  that  offered  a  strong  contrast  to  the  springing 
bounds  with  which  a  deer  runs.  At  last  the  two  leading 
animals  crossed  the  line  of  my  flight  ahead  of  me ;  when 
I  pulled  short  up,  leaped  from  Manitou's  back,  and  blazed 
into  the  band  as  they  went  by  not  forty  yards  off,  aiming 
well  ahead  of  a  fine  buck  who  was  on  the  side  nearest  me. 
An  antelope's  gait  is  so  even  that  it  offers  a  good  running 
mark  ;  and  as  the  smoke  blew  off  I  saw  the  buck  roll  over 
like  a  rabbit,  with  both  shoulders  broken.  I  then  emptied 
the  Winchester  at  the  rest  of  the  band,  breaking  one  hind 
leg  of  a  young  buck.  Hastily  cutting  the  throat  of,  and 
opening,  the  dead  buck,  I  again  mounted  and  started  off 
after  the  wounded  one.  But,  though  only  on  three  legs, 
it  went  astonishingly  fast,  having  had  a  good  start ;  and 
after  following  it  over  a  mile  I  gave  up  the  pursuit,  though 
I  had  gained  a  good  deal ;  for  the  heat  was  very  great, 
and  I  did  not  deem  it  well  to  tire  the  horse  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  trip.  Returning  to  the  carcass,  I  cut  off 
the  hams  and  strung  them  beside  the  saddle  ;  an  antelope 
is  so  spare  that  there  is  very  little  more  meat  on  the 
body. 


A    Trip  on  the  Prairie.  205 

This  trick  of  running  in  a  straight  line  is  another  of 
the  antelope's  peculiar  characteristics  which  frequently 
lead  it  into  danger.  Although  with  so  much  sharper  eyes 
than  a  deer,  antelope  are  in  many  ways  far  stupider  ani- 
mals, more  like  sheep,  and  they  especially  resemble  the 
latter  in  their  habit  of  following  a  leader,  and  in  their 
foolish  obstinacy  in  keeping  to  a  course  they  have  once 
adopted.  If  a  horseman  starts  to  head  off  a  deer  the 
latter  will  always  turn  long  before  he  has  come  within 
range,  but  quite  often  an  antelope  will  merely  increase  his 
speed  and  try  to  pass  ahead  of  his  foe.  Almost  always, 
however,  one  if  alone  will  keep  out  of  gunshot,  owing  to 
the  speed  at  which  he  goes,  but  if  there  are  several  in  a 
band  which  is  well  strung  out,  the  leader  only  cares  for  his 
own  safety  and  passes  well  ahead  himself.  The  others 
follow  like  sheep,  without  turning  in  the  least  from  the 
line  the  first  followed,  and  thus  may  pass  within  close 
range.  If  the  leader  bounds  into  the  air,  those  following 
will  often  go  through  exactly  the  same  motions ;  and  if  he 
turns,  the  others  are  very  apt  to  each  in  succession  run  up 
and  turn  in  the  same  place,  unless  the  whole  band  are 
manoeuvring  together,  like  a  squadron  of  cavalry  under 
orders,  as  has  already  been  spoken  of. 

After  securing  the  buck's  hams  and  head  (the  latter 
for  the  sake  of  the  horns,  which  were  unusually  long  and 
fine),  I  pushed  rapidly  on  without  stopping  to  hunt,  to 
reach  some  large  creek  which  should  contain  both  wood 
and  water,  for  even  in  summer  a  fire  adds  greatly  to  the 
comfort  and  cosiness  of  a  night  camp.  When  the  sun 
had  nearly  set  we  went  over  a  divide  and  came  in  sight  of  a 


206  A    Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

creek  fulfilling  the  required  conditions.  It  wound  its  way 
through  a  valley  of  rich  bottom  land,  cotton-wood  trees  of 
no  great  height  or  size  growing  in  thick  groves  along  its 
banks,  while  its  bed  contained  many  deep  pools  of  water, 
some  of  it  fresh  and  good.  I  rode  into  a  great  bend,  with 
a  grove  of  trees  on  its  right  and  containing  excellent 
feed.  Manitou  was  loosed,  with  the  lariat  round  his  neck, 
to  feed  where  he  wished  until  I  went  to  bed,  when  he  was 
to  be  taken  to  a  place  where  the  grass  was  thick  and  suc- 
culent, and  tethered  out  for  the  night.  There  was  any 
amount  of  wood  with  which  a  fire  was  started  for  cheer- 
fulness, and  some  of  the  coals  were  soon  raked  off  apart 
to  cook  over.  The  horse  blanket  was  spread  on  the 
ground,  with  the  oil-skin  over  it  as  a  bed,  underneath  a 
spreading  cotton-wood  tree,  while  the  regular  blanket 
served  as  covering.  The  metal  cup  was  soon  filled  with 
water  and  simmering  over  the  coals  to  make  tea,  while  an 
antelope  steak  was  roasting  on  a  forked  stick.  It  is  wonder- 
ful how  cosy  a  camp,  in  clear  weather,  becomes  if  there  is 
a  good  fire  and  enough  to  eat,  and  how  sound  the  sleep  is 
afterwards  in  the  cool  air,  with  the  brilliant  stars  glimmer- 
ing through  the  branches  overhead.  In  the  country 
where  I  was  there  was  absolutely  no  danger  from  Indian 
horse-thieves,  and  practically  none  from  white  ones,  for  I 
felt  pretty  sure  no  one  was  anywhere  within  a  good  many 
miles  of  me,  and  none  could  have  seen  me  come  into  the 
valley.  Besides,  in  the  cattle  country  stealing  horses  is  a 
hazardous  profession,  as  any  man  who  is  found  engaged  in 
it  is  at  once,  and  very  properly,  strung  up  to  the  nearest 
tree,  or  shot  if  no  trees  are  handy ;  so  very  few  people  fol- 


A    Trip  on  the  Prairie.  207 

low  it,  at  least  for  any  length  of  time,  and  a  man's  horses 
are  generally  safe. 

Near  where  we  had  halted  for  the  night  camp  was  a 
large  prairie-dog  town.  Prairie-dogs  are  abundant  all 
over  the  cattle  country ;  they  are  in  shape  like  little  wood- 
chucks,  and  are  the  most  noisy  and  inquisitive  animals 
imaginable.  They  are  never  found  singly,  but  always  in 
towns  of  several  hundred  inhabitants  ;  and  these  towns  are 
found  in  all  kinds  of  places  where  the  country  is  flat  and 
treeless.  Sometimes  they  will  be  placed  on  the  bottoms  of 
the  creeks  or  rivers,  and  again  far  out  on  the  prairie  or 
among  the  Bad  Lands,  a  long  distance  from  any  water. 
Indeed,  so  dry  are  some  of  the  localities  in  which  they 
exist,  that  it  is  a  marvel  how  they  can  live  at  all ;  yet  they 
seem  invariably  plump  and  in  good  condition.  They  are 
exceedingly  destructive  to  grass,  eating  away  every  thing 
round  their  burrows,  and  thus  each  town  is  always  extend- 
ing at  the  borders,  while  the  holes  in  the  middle  are  de- 
serted ;  in  many  districts  they  have  become  a  perfect  bane 
to  the  cattle-men,  for  the  incoming  of  man  has  been  the 
means  of  causing  a  great  falling  off  in  the  ranks  of  their 
four-footed  foes,  and  this  main  check  to  their  increase  being 
gone,  they  multiply  at  a  rate  that  threatens  to  make  them 
a  serious  pest  in  the  future.  They  are  among  the  few 
plains  animals  who  are  benefited  instead  of  being  injured 
by  the  presence  of  man  ;  and  it  is  most  difficult  to  exter- 
minate them  or  to  keep  their  number  in  any  way  under, 
as  they  are  prolific  to  a  most  extraordinary  degree  ;  and 
the  quantity  of  good  feed  they  destroy  is  very  great,  and 
as  they  eat  up  the  roots  of  the  grass  it  is  a  long  time, 


208  A   Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

before  it  grows  again.  Already  in  many  districts  the 
stockmen  are  seriously  considering  the  best  way  in  which 
to  take  steps  against  them.  Prairie-dogs  wherever  they 
exist  are  sure  to  attract  attention,  all  the  more  so  because, 
unlike  most  other  rodents,  they  are  diurnal  and  not  noc- 
turnal, offering  therein  a  curious  case  of  parallelism  to 
their  fellow  denizen  of  the  dry  plains,  the  antelope,  which 
is  also  a  creature  loving  to  be  up  and  stirring  in  the 
bright  daylight,  unlike  its  relatives,  the  dusk-loving  deer. 
They  are  very  noisy,  their  shrill  yelping  resounding 
on  all  sides  whenever  a  man  rides  through  a  town. 
None  go  far  from  their  homes,  always  keeping  close 
enough  to  be  able  to  skulk  into  them  at  once ;  and  as 
soon  as  a  foe  appears  they  take  refuge  on  the  hillocks 
beside  their  burrows,  yelping  continuously,  and  accom- 
panying each  yelp  by  a  spasmodic  jerking  of  the  tail  and 
body.  When  the  man  comes  a  little  nearer  they  disap- 
pear inside  and  then  thrust  their  heads  out,  for  they  are 
most  inquisitive.  Their  burrows  form  one  of  the  chief 
dangers  to  riding  at  full  speed  over  the  plains  country  ; 
hardly  any  man  can  do  much  riding  on  the  prairie  for 
more  than  a  year  or  two  without  coming  to  grief  on  more 
than  one  occasion  by  his  horse  putting  its  foot  in  a  prairie- 
dog  hole.  A  badger  hole  is  even  worse.  When  a  horse 
gets  his  foot  in  such  a  hole,  while  going  at  full  speed,  he 
turns  a  complete  somersault,  and  is  lucky  if  he  escape 
without  a  broken  leg,  while  I  have  time  and  again  known 
the  rider  to  be  severely  injured.  There  are  other  smaller 
animals  whose  burrows  sometimes  cause  a  horseman  to 
receive  a  sharp  tumble.  These  are  the  pocket-gophers, 


A   Trip  on  the  Prairie.  209 

queer  creatures,  shaped  like  moles  and  having  the  same 
subterranean  habits,  but  with  teeth  like  a  rat's,  and  great 
pouches  on  the  outside  of  their  jaws,  whose  long,  rambling 
tunnels  cover  the  ground  in  certain  places,  though  the 
animals  themselves  are  very  rarely  seen  ;  and  the  little 
striped  gophers  and  gray  gophers,  entirely  different  ani- 
mals, more  like  ground  squirrels.  But  the  prairie-dog  is 
always  the  main  source  of  danger  to  the  horseman,  as  well 
as  of  mischief  to  the  cattle-herder. 

Around  the  prairie-dog  towns  it  is  always  well  to  keep 
a  look-out  for  the  smaller  carnivora,  especially  coyotes 
and  badgers,  as  they  are  very  fond  of  such  neighborhoods, 
and  almost  always  it  is  also  a  favorite  resort  for  the  larger 
kinds  of  hawks,  which  are  so  numerous  throughout  the 
cattle  country.  Rattlesnakes  are  quite  plenty,  living  in 
the  deserted  holes,  and  the  latter  are  also  the  homes  of  the 
little  burrowing  owls,  which  will  often  be  seen  standing  at 
the  opening,  ready  to  run  in  as  quick  as  any  of  the  prairie- 
dogs  if  danger  threatens.  They  have  a  funny  habit  of 
gravely  bowing  or  posturing  at  the  passer-by,  and  stand 
up  very  erect  on  their  legs.  With  the  exception  of  this 
species,  owls  are  rare  in  the  cattle  country. 

A  prairie-dog  is  rather  a  difficult  animal  to  get,  as  it 
stands  so  close  to  its  burrow  that  a  spasmodic  kick,  even 
if  at  the  last  gasp,  sends  the  body  inside,  where  it  cannot 
be  recovered.  The  cowboys  are  always  practising  at  them 
with  their  revolvers,  and  as  they  are  pretty  good  shots, 
mortally  wound  a  good  many,  but  unless  the  force  of  the 
blow  fairly  knocks  the  prairie-dog  away  from  the  mouth  of 
the  burrow,  it  almost  always  manages  to  escape  inside. 


2io  A   Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

But  a  good  shot  with  the  rifle  can  kill  any  number  by 
lying  down  quietly  and  waiting  a  few  minutes  until  the 
dogs  get  a  little  distance  from  the  mouths  of  their  homes. 

Badgers  are  more  commonly  found  round  prairie-dog 
towns  than  anywhere  else  ;  and  they  get  their  chief  food 
by  digging  up  the  prairie-dogs  and  gophers  with  their 
strong  forearms  and  long,  stout  claws.  They  are  not  of- 
ten found  wandering  away  from  their  homes  in  the  day- 
time, but  if  so  caught  are  easily  run  down  and  killed.  A 
badger  is  a  most  desperate  fighter,  and  an  overmatch  for  a 
coyote,  his  hide  being  very  thick  and  his  form  so  squat 
and  strong  that  it  is  hard  to  break  his  back  or  legs,  while 
his  sharp  teeth  grip  like  a  steel  trap.  A  very  few  seconds 
allow  him  to  dig  a  hole  in  the  ground,  into  which  he  can 
back  all  except  his  head  ;  and  when  placed  thus,  with  his 
rear  and  flanks  protected,  he  can  beat  off  a  dog  many 
times  his  own  size.  A  young  badger  one  night  came  up 
round  the  ranch-house,  and  began  gnawing  at  some  bones 
that  had  been  left  near  the  door.  Hearing  the  noise  one 
of  my  men  took  a  lantern  and  went  outside.  The  glare 
of  the  light  seemed  to  make  the  badger  stupid,  for  after 
looking  at  the  lantern  a  few  moments,  it  coolly  turned  and 
went  on  eating  the  scraps  of  flesh  on  the  bones,  and  was 
knocked  on  the  head  without  attempting  to  escape. 

To  come  back  to  my  trip.  Early  in  the  morning  I 
was  awakened  by  the  shrill  yelping  of  the  prairie-dogs 
whose  town  was  near  me.  The  sun  had  not  yet  risen,  and 
the  air  had  the  peculiar  chill  it  always  takes  on  toward 
morning,  while  little  wreaths  of  light  mist  rose  from  the 
pools.  Getting  up  and  loosing  Manitou  to  let  him  feed 


A   Trip  on  the  Prairie.  211 

round  where  he  wished  and  slake  his  thirst,  I  took  the 
rifle,  strolled  up  the  creek  valley  a  short  distance,  and 
turned  off  out  on  the  prairie.  Nothing  was  in  sight  in  the 
way  of  game ;  but  overhead  a  skylark  was  singing,  soar- 
ing up  above  me  so  high  that  I  could  not  make  out  his 
form  in  the  gray  morning  light.  I  listened  for  some 
time,  and  the  music  never  ceased  for  a  moment,  com- 
ing down  clear,  sweet,  and  tender  from  the  air  above. 
Soon  the  strains  of  another  answered  from  a  little  distance 
off,  and  the  two  kept  soaring  and  singing  as  long  as  I 
stayed  to  listen  ;  and  when  I  walked  away  I  could  still 
hear  their  notes  behind  me.  In  some  ways  the  skylark  is 
the  sweetest  singer  we  have  ;  only  certain  of  the  thrushes 
rival  it,  but  though  the  songs  of  the  latter  have  perhaps 
even  more  melody,  they  are  far  from  being  as  uninterrupted 
and  well  sustained,  being  rather  a  succession  of  broken 
bursts  of  music. 

The  sun  was  just  appearing  when  I  walked  back  to  the 
creek  bottom.  Coming  slowly  out  of  a  patch  of  brush- 
wood, was  a  doe,  going  down  to  drink ;  her  great,  sensi- 
tive ears  thrown  forward  as  she  peered  anxiously  and 
timidly  round.  She  was  very  watchful,  lifting  her  head 
and  gazing  about  between  every  few  mouthfuls.  When 
she  had  drunk  her  fill  she  snatched  a  hasty  mouthful  or 
two  of  the  wet  grass,  and  then  cantered  back  to  the  edge 
of  the  brush,  when  a  little  spotted  fawn  came  out  and 
joined  her.  The  two  stood  together  for  a  few  moments, 
and  then  walked  off  into  the  cover.  The  little  pond  at 
which  they  had  drunk  was  within  fifty  yards  of  my  night 
bed ;  and  it  had  other  tenants  in  the  shape  of  a  mallard 


212  A   Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

duck,  with  a  brood  of  little  ducklings,  balls  of  fuzzy  yellow 
down,  that  bobbed  off  into  the  reeds  like  little  corks  as  I 
walked  by. 

Breaking  camp  is  a  simple  operation  for  one  man  ;  and 
but  a  few  minutes  after  breakfast  Manitou  and  I  were  off ; 
the  embers  of  the  fire  having  been  extinguished  with  the 
care  that  comes  to  be  almost  second  nature  with  the  cattle- 
man, one  of  whose  chief  dreads  is  the  prairie  fire,  that 
sometimes  robs  his  stock  of  such  an  immense  amount  of 
feed.  Very  little  game  was  seen  during  the  morning,  as  I 
rode  in  an  almost  straight  line  over  the  hot,  parched  plains, 
the  ground  cracked  and  seamed  by  the  heat,  and  the  dull 
brown  blades  bending  over  as  if  the  sun  was  too  much 
even  for  them.  The  sweat  drenched  the  horse  even  when 
we  were  walking  ;  and  long  before  noon  we  halted  for 
rest  by  a  bitter  alkaline  pool  with  border  so  steep  and  rot- 
ten that  I  had  to  bring  water  up  to  the  horse  in  my  hat ; 
having  taken  some  along  in  a  canteen  for  my  own  use. 
But  there  was  a  steep  bank  near,  overgrown  with  young 
trees,  and  thus  giving  good  shade  ;  and  it  was  this  that 
induced  me  to  stop.  When  leaving  this  halting-place,  I 
spied  three  figures  in  the  distance,  loping  towards  me  ; 
they  turned  out  to  be  cowboys,  who  had  been  out  a  couple 
of  days  looking  up  a  band  of  strayed  ponies,  and  as  they  had 
exhausted  their  supply  of  food,  I  gave  them  the  antelope 
hams,  trusting  to  shoot  another  for  my  own  use. 

Nor  was  I  disappointed.  After  leaving  the  cowboys 
I  headed  the  horse  towards  the  more  rolling  country 
where  the  prairies  begin  to  break  off  into  the  edges  of  the 
Bad  Lands.  Several  bands  of  antelope,  were  seen,  and  I 


A   Trip  on  the  Prairie.  213 

tried  one  unsuccessful  stalk,  not  being  able  to  come  within 
rifle  range  ;  but  towards  evening,  when  only  about  a  mile 
from  a  wooded  creek  on  whose  banks  I  intended  to  sleep, 
I  came  across  a  solitary  buck,  just  as  I  was  topping  the 
ridge  of  the  last  divide.  As  I  was  keeping  a  sharp  look- 
out at  the  time,  I  reined  in  the  horse  the  instant  the  head 
of  the  antelope  came  in  sight,  and  jumping  off  crept  up  till 
I  could  see  his  whole  body,  when  I  dropped  on  my  knee 
and  took  steady  aim.  He  was  a  long  way  off  (three  hun- 
dred yards  by  actual  pacing),  and  not  having  made  out 
exactly  what  we  were  he  stood  still,  looking  intently  in 
our  direction  and  broadside  to  us.  I  held  well  over 
his  shoulder,  and  at  the  report  he  dropped  like  a  shot, 
the  ball  having  broken  his  neck.  It  was  a  very  good  shot ; 
the  best  I  ever  made  at  antelope,  of  which  game,  as  already 
said,  I  have  killed  but  very  few  individuals.  Taking  the 
hams  and  saddle  I  rode  on  down  to  the  creek  and  again 
went  into  camp  among  timber.  Thus  on  this  trip  I  was 
never  successful  in  outwitting  antelope  on  the  several 
occasions  when  I  pitted  my  craft  and  skill  against  their 
wariness  and  keen  senses,  always  either  failing  to  get 
within  range  or  else  missing  them  ;  but  nevertheless  I  got 
two  by  taking  advantage  of  the  stupidity  and  curiosity 
which  they  occasionally  show. 

The  middle  part  of  the  days  having  proved  so  very  hot, 
and  as  my  store  of  biscuits  was  nearly  gone,  and  as  I  knew, 
moreover,  that  the  antelope  meat  would  not  keep  over 
twenty-four  hours,  I  decided  to  push  back  home  next  day ; 
and  accordingly  I  broke  camp  at  the  first  streak  of  dawn, 
and  took  Manitou  back  to  the  ranch  at  a  smart  lope. 


214  A    Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

A  solitary  trip  such  as  this  was,  through  a  compara- 
tively wild  region  in  which  game  is  still  plentiful,  always 
has  great  attraction  for  any  man  who  cares  for  sport  and 
for  nature,  and  who  is  able  to  be  his  own  companion,  but 
the  pleasure  after  all  depends  a  good  deal  on  the  weather. 
To  be  sure,  after  a  little  experience  in  roughing  it,  the 
hardships  seem  a  good  deal  less  formidable  than  they  for- 
merly did,  and  a  man  becomes  able  to  roll  up  in  a  wet 
blanket  and  sleep  all  night  in  a  pelting  rain  without  hurt' 
ing  himself — though  he  will  shiver  a  good  deal,  and  feel 
pretty  numb  and  stiff  in  those  chill  and  dreary  hours  just 
before  dawn.  But  when  a  man's  clothes  and  bedding  and 
rifle  are  all  wet,  no  matter  how  philosophically  he  may 
bear  it,  it  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  he  does  not  enjoy 
it.  So  fair  weather  is  a  very  vital  and  important  element 
among  those  that  go  to  make  up  the  pleasure  and  success 
of  such  a  trip.  Luckily  fair  weather  can  be  counted  on 
with  a  good  deal  of  certainty  in  late  spring  and  through- 
out most  of  the  summer  and  fall  on  the  northern  cattle 
plains.  The  storms  that  do  take  place,  though  very  vio- 
lent, do  not  last  long. 

Every  now  and  then,  however,  there  will  be  in  the  fall 
a  three-days'  storm  in  which  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
travel,  and  then  the  best  thing  to  be  done  is  to  lie  up 
under  any  shelter  that  is  at  hand  until  it  blows  over.  I 
remember  one  such  camp  which  was  made  in  the  midst  of 
the  most  singular  and  picturesque  surroundings.  It  was 
toward  the  end  of  a  long  *.vagon  trip  that  we  had  been 
taking,  and  all  of  the  horses  were  tired  by  incessant  work. 
We  had  come  through  country  which  was  entirely  new 


A   Trip  on  the  Prairie.  215 

to  us,  passing  nearly  all  day  in  a  long  flat  prairie  through 
which  flowed  a  stream  that  we  supposed  to  be  either  the 
Box  Alder  or  the  Little  Beaver.  In  leaving  this  we 
had  struck  some  heavy  sand-hills,  and  while  pulling  the 
loaded  wagon  up  them  one  of  the  team  played  out  com- 
pletely, and  we  had  to  take  her  out  and  put  in  one  of  the 
spare  saddle-ponies,  a  tough  little  fellow.  Night  came  on 
fast,  and  the  sun  was  just  setting  when  we  crossed  the 
final  ridge  and  came  in  sight  of  as  singular  a  bit  of  coun- 
try as  I  have  ever  seen.  The  cowboys,  as  we  afterward 
found,  had  christened  the  place  "  Medicine  Buttes."  In 
plains  dialect,  I  may  explain,  "  Medicine"  has  been  adopted 
from  the  Indians,  among  whom  it  means  any  thing  super- 
natural or  very  unusual.  It  is  used  in  the  sense  of 
"  magic,"  or  "  out  of  the  common." 

Over  an  irregular  tract  of  gently  rolling  sandy  hills, 
perhaps  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  square,  were  scat- 
tered several  hundred  detached  and  isolated  buttes  or 
cliffs  of  sandstone,  each  butte  from  fifteen  to  fifty  feet 
high,  and  from  thirty  to  a  couple  of  hundred  feet  across. 
Some  of  them  rose  as  sharp  peaks  or  ridges,  or  as  con- 
nected chains,  but  much  the  greater  number  had  flat  tops 
like  little  table-lands.  The  sides  were  perfectly  perpen- 
dicular, and  were  cut  and  channelled  by  the  weather  into 
the  most  extraordinary  forms ;  caves,  columns,  battle- 
ments, spires,  and  flying  buttresses  were  mingled  in  the 
strangest  confusion.  Many  of  the  caves  were  worn  clear 
through  the  buttes,  and  they  were  at  every  height  in  the 
sides,  while  ledges  ran  across  the  faces,  and  shoulders  and 
columns  jutted  out  from  the  corners.  On  the  tops  and 


216  A   Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

at  the  bases  of  most  of  the  cliffs  grew  pine  trees,  some  of 
considerable  height,  and  the  sand  gave  every  thing  a  clean, 
white  look. 

Altogether  it  was  as  fantastically  beautiful  a  place  as  I 
have  ever  seen  :  it  seemed  impossible  that  the  hand  of  man 
should  not  have  had  something  to  do  with  its  formation. 
There  was  a  spring  of  clear  cold  water  a  few  hundred  yards 
off,  with  good  feed  for  the  horses  round  it ;  and  we  made 
our  camp  at  the  foot  of  one  of  the  largest  buttes,  building 
a  roaring  pine-log  fire  in  an  angle  in  the  face  of  the  cliff, 
while  our  beds  were  under  the  pine  trees.  It  was  the  time 
of  the  full  moon,  and  the  early  part  of  the  night  was  clear. 
The  flame  of  the  fire  leaped  up  the  side  of  the  cliff,  the  red 
light  bringing  out  into  lurid  and  ghastly  relief  the  bold 
corners  and  strange-looking  escarpments  of  the  rock,  while 
against  it  the  stiff  limbs  of  the  pines  stood  out  like  rigid 
bars  of  iron.  Walking  off  out  of  sight  of  the  circle  of  fire- 
light, among  the  tall  crags,  the  place  seemed  almost  as 
unreal  as  if  we  had  been  in  fairy-land.  The  flood  of  clear 
moonlight  turned  the  white  faces  of  the  cliffs  and  the 
grounds  between  them  into  shining  silver,  against  which 
the  pines  showed  dark  and  sombre,  while  the  intensely 
black  shadows  of  the  buttes  took  on  forms  that  were 
grimly  fantastic.  Every  cave  or  cranny  in  the  crags 
looked  so  black  that  it  seemed  almost  to  be  thrown  out 
from  the  surface,  and  when  the  branches  of  the  trees 
moved,  the  bright  moonlight  danced  on  the  ground  as  if 
it  were  a  sheet  of  molten  metal.  Neither  in  shape  nor  in 
color  did  our  surroundings  seem  to  belong  to  the  dull 
gray  world  through  which  we  had  been  travelling  all  day. 


A   Trip  on  the  Prairie.  217 

But  by  next  morning  every  thing  had  changed.  A 
furious  gale  of  wind  was  blowing,  and  we  were  shrouded 
in  a  dense,  drizzling  mist,  through  which  at  times  the  rain 
drove  in  level  sheets.  Now  and  then  the  fog  would  blow 
away,  and  then  would  come  on  thicker  than  ever  ;  and 
when  it  began  to  clear  off  a  steady  rain  took  its  place,  and 
the  wind  increased  to  a  regular  hurricane.  With  its  can- 
vas top  on,  the  wagon  would  certainly  have  been  blown 
over  if  on  open  ground,  and  it  was  impossible  to  start  or 
keep  a  fire  except  under  the  sheltered  lee  of  the  cliff.  More- 
over, the  wind  kept  shifting,  and  we  had  to  shift  too,  as  fast 
as  ever  it  started  to  blow  from  a  new  quarter ;  and  thus  in 
the  course  of  the  twenty-four  hours  we  made  a  complete 
circle  of  the  cliff  at  whose  base  we  were.  Our  blankets 
got  wet  during  the  night ;  and  they  got  no  drier  during  the 
day  ;  and  the  second  night,  as  we  slept  on  them  they  got 
steadily  damper.  Our  provisions  were  pretty  nearly  out, 
and  so,  with  little  to  eat  and  less  to  do,  wet  and  uncom- 
fortable, we  cowered  over  the  sputtering  fire,  and  whiled 
the  long  day  away  as  best  we  might  with  our  own 
thoughts  ;  fortunately  we  had  all  learned  that  no  matter 
how  bad  things  are,  grumbling  and  bad  temper  can  always 
be  depended  upon  to  make  them  worse,  and  so  bore  our 
ill-fortune,  if  not  with  stoical  indifference,  at  least  in  perfect 
quiet.  Next  day  the  storm  still  continued,  but  the  fog 
was  gone  and  the  wind  somewhat  easier ;  and  we  spent 
the  whole  day  looking  up  the  horses,  which  had  drifted  a 
long  distance  before  the  storm  ;  nor  was  it  till  the  morning 
of  the  third  day  that  we  left  our  beautiful  but,  as  events 
had  made  it,  uncomfortable  camping-ground. 


218  A    Trip  on  the  Prairie. 

In  midsummer  the  storms  are  rarely  of  long  duration, 
but  are  very  severe  while  they  last.  I  remember  well 
one  day  when  I  was  caught  in  such  a  storm.  I  had  gone 
some  twenty-five  miles  from  the  ranch  to  see  the  round-up, 
which  had  reached  what  is  known  as  the  Oxbow  of  the 
Little  Missouri,  where  the  river  makes  a  great  loop  round 
a  flat  grassy  bottom,  on  which  the  cattle  herd  was 
gathered.  I  stayed,  seeing  the  cattle  cut  out  and  the 
calves  branded,  until  after  dinner ;  for  it  was  at  the  time 
of  the  year  when  the  days  were  longest. 

At  last  the  work  was  ended,  and  I  started  home  in  the 
twilight.  The  horse  splashed  across  the  shallow  ford,  and 
then  spent  half  an  hour  in  climbing  up  through  the 
rugged  side  hills,  till  we  reached  the  top  of  the  first  great 
plateau  that  had  to  be  crossed.  As  soon  as  I  got  on  it  I 
put  in  the  spurs  and  started  off  at  a  gallop.  In  the  dusk 
the  brown  level  land  stretched  out  in  formless  expanse 
ahead  of  me,  unrelieved,  except  by  the  bleached  white  of 
a  buffalo's  skull,  whose  outlines  glimmered  indistinctly  to 
one  side  of  the  course  I  was  riding.  On  my  left  the  sun 
had  set  behind  a  row  of  jagged  buttes,  that  loomed  up  in 
sharp  relief  against  the  western  sky ;  above  them  it  had 
left  a  bar  of  yellow  light,  which  only  made  more  intense 
the  darkness  of  the  surrounding  heavens.  In  the  quarter 
towards  which  I  was  heading  there  had  gathered  a  lower- 
ing mass  of  black  storm-clouds,  lit  up  by  the  incessant 
play  of  the  lightning.  The  wind  had  totally  died  away, 
and  the  death-like  stillness  was  only  broken  by  the  con- 
tinuous, measured  beat  of  the  horse's  hoofs  as  he  galloped 
over  the  plain,  and  at  times  by  the  muttered  roll  of  the 
distant  thunder. 


A    Trip  on  the  Prairie.  219 

Without  slacking  pace  I  crossed  the  plateau,  and  as  I 
came  to  the  other  edge  the  storm  burst  in  sheets  and 
torrents  of  water.  In  five  minutes  I  was  drenched  through, 
and  to  guide  myself  had  to  take  advantage  of  the  con- 
tinual flashes  of  lightning ;  and  I  was  right  glad,  half  an 
hour  afterward,  to  stop  and  take  shelter  in  the  log  hut  of 
a  couple  of  cowboys,  where  I  could  get  dry  and  warm. 


CHAPTER   VII. 


A  TRIP  AFTER  MOUNTAIN  SHEEP. 


ATE  one  fall  a  spell  of  bitter 
weather  set  in,  and  lasted  on 
through  the  early  part  of  the 
winter.  For  many  days  to- 
gether the  cold  was  fierce  in 
its  intensity  ;  and  the  wheels 
of  the  ranch-wagon,  when 
we  drove  out  for  a  load 
•of  fire-wood,  creaked  and 
sang  as  they  ground  through  the  powdery  snow  that 
lay  light  on  the  ground.  At  night  in  the  clear  sky 
the  stars  seemed  to  snap  and  glitter ;  and  for  weeks 
of  cloudless  white  weather  the  sun  shone  down  on  a  land 
from  which  his  beams  glanced  and  glistened  as  if  it  had 
been  the  surface  of  a  mirror,  till  the  glare  hurt  the  eyes 
that  looked  upon  it.  In  the  still  nights  we  could  hear  the 
trees  crack  and  jar  from  the  strain  of  the  biting  frost ;  and 
in  its  winding  bed  the  river  lay  fixed  like  a  huge  bent  bar 
of  blue  steel. 


220 


Mountain  Sheep. 


221 


We  had  been  told  that  a  small  band  of  big-horn  was 
hanging  around  some  very  steep  and  broken  country  about 
twenty-five  miles  from  the  ranch-house.  I  had  been  out 
after  them  once  alone,  but  had  failed  to  find  even  their 
tracks,  and  had  made  up  my  mind  that  in  order  to  hunt 
them  it  would  be  necessary  to  make  a  three-  or  four-days' 
trip,  taking  along  the  buck-board  with  our  bedding  and 
eatables.  The  trip  had  been  delayed  owing  to  two  of  my 
men,  who  had  been  sent  out  to  buy  ponies,  coming  in  with 
a  bunch  of  fifty,  for  the  most  part  hardly  broken.  Some 
of  them  were  meant  for  the  use  of  the  lower  ranch,  and 
the  men  from  the  latter  had  come  up  to  get  them.  At 
night  the  ponies  were  let  loose,  and  each  day  were  gathered 
into  the  horse  corral  and  broken  as  well  as  we  could  break 
them  in  such  weather.  It  was  my  intention  not  to  start 
on  the  hunt  until  the  ponies  were  separated  into  the  two 
bands,  and  the  men  from  the  lower  ranch  (the  Elkhorn) 
had  gone  off  with  theirs.  Then  one  of  the  cowboys  was 
to  take  the  buck-board  up  to  a  deserted  hunter's  hut,  which 
lay  on  a  great  bend  of  the  river  near  by  the  ground  over 
which  the  big-horn  were  said  to  wander,  while  my  foreman, 
Merrifield,  and  myself  would  take  saddle-horses,  and  each 
day  ride  to  the  country  through  which  we  intended  to 
hunt,  returning  at  night  to  the  buck-board  and  hut.  But 
we  started  a  little  sooner  than  we  had  intended,  owing  to 
a  funny  mistake  made  by  one  of  the  cowboys. 

The  sun  did  not  rise  until  nearly  eight,  but  each  morn- 
ing we  breakfasted  at  five,  and  the  men  were  then  sent 
out  on  the  horses  which  had  been  kept  in  overnight,  to 
find  and  drive  home  the  pony  band  ;  of  course  they  started 


222 


Mountain  Sheep. 


in  perfect  darkness,  except  for  the  starlight.  On  the  last 
day  of  our  proposed  stay  the  men  had  come  in  with  the 
ponies  before  sunrise  ;  and,  leaving  the  latter  in  the  cor- 
ral, they  entered  the  house  and  crowded  round  the  fire, 
stamping  and  beating  their  numbed  hands  together.  In 
the  midst  of  the  confusion  word  was  brought  by  one  of 
the  cowboys,  that  while  hunting  for  the  horses  he  had 
seen  two  bears  go  down  into  a  wash-out ;  and  he  told  us 
that  he  could  bring  us  right  to  the  place  where  he  had 
seen  them,  for  as  soon  as  he  left  it  he  had  come  in  at 
speed  on  his  swift,  iron-gray  horse — a  vicious,  clean-limbed 
devil,  with  muscles  like  bundles  of  tense  wire  ;  the  cold 
had  made  the  brute  savage,  and  it  had  been  punished  with 
the  cruel  curb  bit  until  long,  bloody  icicles  hung  from 
its  lips. 

At  once  Merrifield  and  I  mounted  in  hot  haste,  and 
rode  off  with  the  bringer  of  good  tidings,  leaving  hasty  in- 
structions where  we  were  to  be  joined  by  the  buck-board. 
The  sun  was  still  just  below  the  horizon  as  we  started, 
wrapped  warmly  in  our  fur  coats  and  with  our  caps  drawn 
down  over  our  ears  to  keep  out  the  cold.  The  cattle  were 
standing  in  the  thickets  and  sheltered  ravines,  huddled 
together  with  their  heads  down,  the  frost  lying  on  their 
backs  and  the  icicles  hanging  from  their  muzzles  ;  they 
stared  at  us  as  we  rode  along,  but  were  too  cold  to  move 
a  hand's  breadth  out  of  our  way  ;  indeed  it  is  a  marvel  how 
they  survive  the  winter  at  all.  Our  course  at  first  lay  up 
a  long  valley,  cut  up  by  cattle  trails ;  then  we  came  out, 
just  as  the  sun  had  risen,  upon  the  rounded,  gently-sloping 
highlands,  thickly  clad  with  the  short,  nutritious  grass, 


Mountain  Sheep.  223 

which  curls  on  the  stalk  into  good  hay,  and  on  which  the 
cattle  feed  during  winter.  We  galloped  rapidly  over  the 
hills,  our  blood  gradually  warming  up  from  the  motion ; 
and  soon  came  to  the  long  wash-out,  cutting  down  like  a 
miniature  canyon  for  a  space  of  two  or  three  miles  through 
the  bottom  of  a  valley,  into  which  the  cowboy  said  he  had 
seen  the  bears  go.  One  of  us  took  one  side  and  one  the 
other,  and  we  rode  along  up  wind,  but  neither  the  bears 
nor  any  traces  of  them  could  we  see ;  at  last,  half  a  mile 
ahead  of  us,  two  dark  objects  suddenly  emerged  from  the 
wash-out,  and  came  out  on  the  plain.  For  a  second  we 
thought  they  were  the  quarry ;  then  we  saw  that  they  were 
merely  a  couple  of  dark-colored  ponies.  The  cowboy's 
chapfallen  face  was  a  study  ;  he  had  seen,  in  the  dim  light, 
the  two  ponies  going  down  with  their  heads  held  near  the 
ground,  and  had  mistaken  them  for  bears  (by  no  means 
the  unnatural  mistake  that  it  seems ;  I  have  known  an  ex- 
perienced hunter  fire  twice  at  a  black  calf  in  the  late  even- 
ing, thinking  it  was  a  bear).  He  knew  only  too  well  the 
merciless  chaff  to  which  he  would  be  henceforth  exposed  ; 
and  a  foretaste  of  which  he  at  once  received  from  my  com- 
panion. The  ponies  had  strayed  from  the  main  herd,  and 
the  cowboy  was  sent  back  to  drive  them  to  the  home 
corral,  while  Merrifield  and  myself  continued  our  hunt. 

We  had  all  day  before  us,  and  but  twenty  miles  or  so 
to  cover  before  reaching  the  hut  where  the  buck-board  was 
to  meet  us  ;  but  the  course  we  intended  to  take  was  through 
country  so  rough  that  no  Eastern  horse  could  cross  it,  and 
even  the  hardy  Western  hunting-ponies,  who  climb  like 
goats,  would  have  difficulty  in  keeping  their  feet.  Our 


224  Mountain  Sheep. 

route  lay  through  the  heart  of  the  Bad  Lands,  but  of 
course  the  country  was  not  equally  rough  in  all  parts. 
There  were  tracts  of  varying  size,  each  covered  with  a 
.tangled  mass  of  chains  and  peaks,  the  buttes  in  places 
reaching  a  height  that  would  in  the  East  entitle  them  to  be 
called  mountains.  Every  such  tract  was  riven  in  all  direc- 
tions by  deep  chasms  and  narrow  ravines,  whose  sides 
sometimes  rolled  off  in  gentle  slopes,  but  far  more  often 
rose  as  sheer  cliffs,  with  narrow  ledges  along  their  fronts. 
A  sparse  growth  of  grass  covered  certain  portions  of  these 
lands,  and  on  some  of  the  steep  hillsides,  or  in  the  canyons, 
were  scanty  groves  of  coniferous  evergreens,  so  stunted  by 
the  thin  soil  and  bleak  weather  that  many  of  them  were 
bushes  rather  than  trees.  Most  of  the  peaks  and  ridges, 
and  many  of  the  valleys,  were  entirely  bare  of  vegetation, 
and  these  had  been  cut  by  wind  and  water  into  the 
strangest  and  most  fantastic  shapes.  Indeed  it  is  difficult, 
in  looking  at  such  formations,  to  get  rid  of  the  feeling  that 
their  curiously  twisted  and  contorted  forms  are  due  to 
some  vast  volcanic  upheavals  or  other  subterranean  forces  ; 
yet  they  are  merely  caused  by  the  action  of  the  various 
weathering  forces  of  the  dry  climate  on  the  different  strata 
of  sandstones,  clays,  and  marls.  Isolated  columns  shoot 
up  into  the  air,  bearing  on  their  summits  flat  rocks  like 
tables ;  square  buttes  tower  high  above  surrounding  de- 
pressions, which  are  so  cut  up  by  twisting  gullies  and  low 
ridges  as  to  be  almost  impassable  ;  shelving  masses  of  sand- 
stone jut  out  over  the  sides  of  the  cliffs  ;  some  of  the 
ridges,  with  perfectly  perpendicular  sides,  are  so  worn 
away  that  they  stand  up  like  gigantic  knife  blades ;  and 


Mountain  Sheep.  225 

gulches,  wash-outs,  and  canyons  dig  out  the  sides  of  each 
butte,  while  between  them  are  thrust  out  long  spurs,  with 
sharp  ragged  tops.  All  such  patches  of  barren,  broken 
ground,  where  the  feed  seems  too  scant  to  support  any 
large  animal,  are  the  favorite  haunts  of  the  big-horn, 
though  it  also  wanders  far  into  the  somewhat  gentler  and 
more  fertile,  but  still  very  rugged,  domain  of  the  black- 
lail  deer. 

Between  all  such  masses  of  rough  country  lay  wide, 
grassy  plateaus  or  long  stretches  of  bare  plain,  covered  with 
pebbly  shingle.  We  loped  across  all  these  open  places ; 
and  when  we  came  to  a  reach  of  broken  country  would 
leave  our  horses  and  hunt  through  it  on  foot.  Except 
where  the  wind  had  blown  it  off,  there  was  a  thin  coat 
of  snow  over  every  thing,  and  the  icy  edges  and  sides 
of  the  cliffs  gave  only  slippery  and  uncertain  foothold, 
so  as  to  render  the  climbing  doubly  toilsome.  Hunting 
the  big-horn  is  at  all  times  the  hardest  and  most  difficult 
kind  of  sport,  and  is  equally  trying  to  both  wind  and 
muscle  ;  and  for  that  very  reason  the  bigh-horn  ranks 
highest  among  all  the  species  of  game  that  are  killed  by 
still-hunting,  and  its  chase  constitutes  the  noblest  form 
of  sport  with  the  rifle,  always  excepting,  of  course,  those 
kinds  of  hunting  where  the  quarry  is  itself  dangerous 
to  attack.  Climbing  kept  us  warm  in  spite  of  the  bitter 
weather ;  we  only  wore  our  fur  coats  and  shaps  while  on 
horseback,  leaving  them  where  we  left  the  horses,  and 
doing  our  still-hunting  in  buckskin  shirts,  fur  caps,  and 
stout  shoes. 

Big-horn,  more  commonly  known  as  mountain  sheep, 


226  Mountain  Sheet. 

are  extremely  wary  and  cautious  animals,  and  are  plentiful 
in  but  few  places.  This  is  rather  surprising,  for  they  seem 
to  be  fairly  prolific  (although  not  as  much  so  as  deer  and 
antelope),  and  comparatively  few  are  killed  by  the  hunters  ; 
indeed,  much  fewer  are  shot  than  of  any  other  kind  of 
western  game  in  proportion  to  their  numbers.  They  hold 
out  in  a  place  long  after  the  elk  and  buffalo  have  been 
exterminated,  and  for  many  years  after  both  of  these 
have  become  things  of  the  past  the  big-horn  will  still 
exist  to  afford  sport  to  the  man  who  is  a  hardy  moun- 
taineer and  skilful  with  the  rifle.  For  it  is  the  only  kind 
of  game  on  whose  haunts  cattle  do  not  trespass.  Good 
buffalo  or  elk  pasture  is  sure  to  be  also  good  pasture 
for  steers  and  cows ;  and  in  summer  the  herds  of  the 
ranchman  wander  far  into  the  prairies  of  the  antelope, 
while  in  winter  their  chosen  and  favorite  resorts  are 
those  of  which  the  black-tail  is  equally  fond.  Thus, 
the  cattle-men  are  almost  as  much  foes  of  these  kinds 
of  game  as  are  the  hunters,  but  neither  cattle  nor  cow- 
boys penetrate  into  the  sterile  and  rocky  wastes  where 
the  big-horn  is  found.  And  it  is  too  wary  game,  and  the 
labor  of  following  it  is  too  great,  for  it  ever  to  be  much 
persecuted  by  the  skin  or  market  hunters. 

In  size  the  big-horn  comes  next  to  buffalo  and  elk, 
averaging  larger  than  the  black-tail  deer,  while  an  old  ram 
will  sometimes  be  almost  as  heavy  as  a  small  cow  elk.  In 
his  movements  he  is  not  light  and  graceful  like  the  prong- 
horn  and  other  antelopes,  his  marvellous  agility  seem- 
ing rather  to  proceed  from  sturdy  strength  and  wonderful 
command  over  iron  sinews  and  muscles.  The  huge  horns 


Mountain  Sheep.  227 

are  carried  proudly  erect  by  the  massive  neck ;  every 
motion  of  the  body  is  made  with  perfect  poise  ;  and  there 
seems  to  be  no  ground  so  difficult  that  the  big-horn 
cannot  cross  it.  There  is  probably  no  animal  in  the 
world  his  superior  in  climbing  ;  and  his  only  equals  are 
the  other  species  of  mountain  sheep  and  the  ibexes.  No 
matter  how  sheer  the  cliff,  if  there  are  ever  so  tiny  cracks 
or  breaks  in  the  surface,  the  big-horn  will  bound  up  or 
down  it  with  wonderful  ease  and  seeming  absence  of 
effort.  The  perpendicular  bounds  it  can  make  are 
truly  startling — in  strong  contrast  with  its  distant  rela- 
tive the  prong-horn  which  can  leap  almost  any  level 
jump  but  seems  unable  to  clear  the  smallest  height.  In 
descending  a  sheer  wall  of  rock  the  big-horn  holds  all  four 
feet  together  and  goes  down  in  long  jumps,  bounding 
off  the  surface  almost  like  a  rubber  ball  every  time  he 
strikes  it.  The  way  that  one  will  vanish  over  the  rough- 
est and  most  broken  ground  is  a  perpetual  surprise  to  any 
one  that  has  hunted  them  ;  and  the  ewes  are  quite  as  skil- 
ful as  the  rams,  while  even  the  very  young  lambs  seem 
almost  as  well  able  to  climb,  and  certainly  follow  wher- 
ever their  elders  lead.  Time  and  again  one  will  rush 
over  a  cliff  to  what  appears  certain  death,  and  will  gallop 
away  from  the  bottom  unharmed.  Their  perfect  self-con- 
fidence seems  to  be  justified,  however,  for  they  never 
slip  or  make  a  misstep,  even  on  the  narrowest  ledges 
when  covered  with  ice  and  snow.  And  all  their  marvel- 
lous jumping  and  climbing  is  done  with  an  apparent 
ease  that  renders  it  the  more  wonderful.  Rapid  though 
the  movements  of  one  are  they  are  made  without  any 


Mountain  Sheep. 

of  the  nervous  hurry  so  characteristic  of  the  antelopes 
and  smaller  deer  ;  the  on-looker  is  really  as  much  im- 
pressed with  the  animal's  sinewy  power  and  self-command 
as  with  his  agility.  His  strength  and  his  self-reliance 
seem  to  fit  him  above  all  other  kinds  of  game  to  battle 
with  the  elements  and  with  his  brute  foes ;  he  does 
not  care  to  have  the  rough  ways  of  his  life  made  smooth  ; 
were  his  choice  free  his  abode  would  still  be  the  vast 
and  lonely  wilderness  in  which  he  is  found.  To  him 
the  barren  wastes  of  the  Bad  Lands  offer  a  most  at- 
tractive home ;  yet  to  other  living  creatures  they  are 
at  all  times  as  grimly  desolate  and  forbidding  as  any 
spot  on  earth  can  be  ;  at  all  seasons  they  seem  hostile  to 
every  form  of  life.  In  the  raging  heat  of  summer  the  dry 
earth  cracks  and  crumbles,  and  the  sultry,  lifeless  air 
sways  and  trembles  as  if  above  a  furnace.  Through  the 
high,  clear  atmosphere,  the  intense  sunlight  casts  un- 
naturally deep  shadows;  and  where  there  are  no  shadows, 
brings  out  in  glaring  relief  the  weird,  fantastic  shapes 
and  bizarre  coloring  of  the  buttes.  In  winter  snow  and 
ice  coat  the  thin  crests  and  sharp  sides  of  the  cliffs,  and 
increase  their  look  of  savage  wildness  ;  the  cold  turns  the 
ground  into  ringing  iron  ;  and  the  icy  blasts  sweep 
through  the  clefts  and  over  the  ridges  with  an  angry 
fury  even  more  terrible  than  is  the  intense,  death-like, 
silent  heat  of  midsummer.  But  the  mountain  ram  is  alike 
proudly  indifferent  to  the  hottest  summer  sun  and  to 
the  wildest  winter  storm. 

The  lambs  are  brought  forth  late  in  May  or  early  in 
June.     Like  the  antelope,  the  dam  soon  leads  her  kids  to 


Mountain  Sheep.  229 

join  the  herd,  which  may  range  in  size  from  a  dozen  to 
four  or  five  times  as  many  individuals,  generally  approach- 
ing nearer  the  former  number.  The  ewes,  lambs,  and 
yearling  or  two-year-old  rams  go  together.  The  young 
but  full-grown  rams  keep  in  small  parties  of  three  or  four, 
while  the  old  fellows,  with  monstrous  heads,  keep  by  them- 
selves, except  when  they  join  the  ewes  in  the  rutting  sea- 
son. At  this  time  they  wage  savage  war  with  each  other. 
The  horns  of  the  old  rams  are  always  battered  and  scarred 
from  these  butting  contests — which  appearance,  by  the 
way,  has  given  rise  to  the  ridiculous  idea  that  they  were 
in  the  habit  of  jumping  over  precipices  and  landing  on 
their  heads. 

Occasionally  the  big-horn  come  down  into  the  valleys 
or  along  the  grassy  slopes  to  feed,  but  this  is  not  often,  and 
in  such  cases  every  member  of  the  band  is  always  keeping 
the  sharpest  look-out,  and  at  the  slightest  alarm  they  beat 
a  retreat  to  their  broken  fastnesses.  At  night-time  or 
in  the  early  morning  they  come  down  to  drink  at  the 
small  pools  or  springs,  but  move  off  the  instant  they  have 
satisfied  their  thirst.  As  a  rule,  they  spend  their  time 
among  the  rocks  and  rough  ground,  and  it  is  in  these 
places  that  they  must  be  hunted.  They  cover  a  good 
deal  of  ground  when  feeding,  for  the  feed  is  scanty  in 
their  haunts,  and  they  walk  quite  rapidly  along  the  ledges 
or  peaks,  by  preference  high  up,  as  they  graze  or  browse. 
When  through  feeding  they  always  choose  as  a  resting- 
place  some  point  from  which  they  can  command  a  view 
over  all  the  surrounding  territory.  An  old  ram  is 
peculiarly  wary.  The  crest  of  a  ridge  or  the  top  of  a 


230  Mountain  Sheep. 

peak  is  a  favorite  resting-bed  ;  but  even  more  often  they 
choose  some  ledge,  high  up,  but  just  below  the  crest,  or 
lie  on  a  shelf  of  rock  that  juts  out  from  where  a  ridge  ends, 
and  thus  enables  them  to  view  the  country  on  three  sides 
of  them.  In  color  they  harmonize  curiously  with  the 
grayish  or  yellowish  brown  of  the  ground  on  which  they 
are  found,  and  it  is  often  very  difficult  to  make  them  out 
when  lying  motionless  on  a  ledge  of  rock.  Time  and 
again  they  will  be  mistaken  for  boulders,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  I  have  more  than  once  stalked  up  to  masses 
of  sandstone  that  I  have  mistaken  for  sheep. 

When  lying  down  the  big-horn  can  thus  scan  every 
thing  below  it ;  and  both  while  feeding  and  resting  it  in- 
variably keeps  the  sharpest  possible  look-out  for  all  danger 
from  beneath,  and  this  trait  makes  it  needful  for  the  hun- 
ter to  always  keep  on  the  highest  ground  and  try  to  come 
on  it  from  above.  For  protection  against  danger  it  relies 
on  ears,  eyes,  and  nose  alike.  The  slightest  sound  star- 
tles it  and  puts  it  on  its  guard,  while  if  it  sees  or  smells 
any  thing  which  it  deems  may  bode  danger  it  is  off  like  a 
flash.  It  is  as  wary  and  quick-sighted  as  the  antelope, 
and  its  senses  are  as  keen  as  are  those  of  the  elk,  while  it 
is  not  afflicted  by  the  occasional  stupidity  nor  heedless 
recklessness  of  these  two  animals,  nor  by  the  intense  curi- 
osity of  the  black-tail,  and  it  has  all  the  white-tail's  sound 
common-sense,  coupled  with  a  much  shyer  nature  and 
much  sharper  faculties,  so  that  it  is  more  difficult  to  kill 
than  are  any  of  these  creatures.  And  the  climbing  is 
rendered  all  the  more  tiresome  by  the  traits  above  spoken 
of,  which  make  it  necessary  for  the  hunter  to  keep  above 


Mountain  Sheep.  231 

it.  The  first  thing  to  do  is  to  clamber  up  to  the  top  of 
a  ridge,  and  after  that  to  keep  on  the  highest  crests. 

At  all  times,  and  with  all  game,  the  still-hunter  should 
be  quiet,  and  should  observe  caution,  but  when  after 
mountain  sheep  he  must  be  absolutely  noiseless  and  must 
not  neglect  a  single  chance.  He  must  be  careful  not  to 
step  on  a  loose  stone  or  to  start  any  crumbling  earth  ;  he 
must  always  hunt  up  or  across  wind,  and  he  must  take  ad- 
vantage of  every  crag  or  boulder  to  shelter  himself  from 
the  gaze  of  his  watchful  quarry.  While  keeping  up  as 
high  as  possible,  he  should  not  go  on  the  very  summit,  as 
that  brings  him  out  in  too  sharp  relief  against  the  sky. 
And  all  the  while  he  will  be  crossing  land  where  he  will 
need  to  pay  good  heed  to  his  own  footing  or  else  run  the 
risk  of  breaking  his  neck. 

As  far  as  lay  in  us,  on  our  first  day's  hunt  we  paid 
proper  heed  to  all  the  rules  of  hunting-craft ;  but  without 
success.  Up  the  slippery,  ice-covered  buttes  we  clam- 
bered, clinging  to  the  rocks,  and  slowly  working  our  way 
across  the  faces  of  the  cliffs,  or  cautiously  creeping  along 
the  narrow  ledges,  peering  over  every  crest  long  and  care- 
fully, and  from  the  peaks  scanning  the  ground  all  about 
with  the  field-glasses.  But  we  saw  no  sheep,  and  but 
little  sign  of  them.  Still  we  did  see  some  sign,  and  lost  a 
shot,  either  through  bad  luck  or  bad  management.  This 
was  while  going  through  a  cluster  of  broken  buttes,  whose 
peaks  rose  up  like  sharp  cones.  On  reaching  the  top  of 
one  at  the  leeward  end,  we  worked  cautiously  up  the  side, 
seeing  nothing,  to  the  other  end,  and  then  down  along 
the  middle.  When  about  half-way  back  we  came  across 


232  Mountain  Sheep. 

the  fresh  footprints  of  a  ewe  or  yearling  ram  in  a  little 
patch  of  snow.  On  tracing  them  back  we  found  that  it 
had  been  lying  down  on  the  other  side  of  a  small  bluff, 
within  a  hundred  yards  of  where  we  had  passed,  and  must 
have  either  got  our  wind,  or  else  have  heard  us  make 
some  noise.  At  any  rate  it  had  gone  off,  and  though  we 
followed  its  tracks  a  little  in  the  snow,  they  soon  got  on 
the  bare,  frozen  ground  and  we  lost  them. 

After  that  we  saw  nothing.  The  cold,  as  the  day  wore 
on,  seemed  gradually  to  chill  us  through  and  through ; 
our  hands  and  feet  became  numb,  and  our  ears  tingled 
under  our  fur  caps.  We  hunted  carefully  through  two  or 
three  masses  of  jagged  buttes  which  seemed  most  likely 
places  for  the  game  we  were  after,  taking  a  couple  of 
hours  to  each  place  ;  and  then,  as  the  afternoon  was 
beginning  to  wane,  mounted  our  shivering  horses  for 
good,  and  pushed  toward  the  bend  of  the  river  where  we 
were  to  meet  the  buck-board.  Our  course  lay  across  a 
succession  of  bleak,  wind-swept  plateaus,  broken  by  deep 
and  narrow  pine-clad  gorges.  We  galloped  swiftly  over 
the  plateaus,  where  the  footing  was  good  and  the  going 
easy,  for  the  gales  had  driven  the  feathery  snow  off  the 
withered  brown  grass  ;  but  getting  on  and  off  these  table- 
lands was  often  a  real  labor,  their  sides  were  so  sheer. 
The  horses  plunged  and  scrambled  after  us  as  we  led 
them  up  ;  while  in  descending  they  would  sit  back  on  their 
haunches  and  half-walk,  half-slide,  down  the  steep  inclines. 
Indeed,  one  or  two  of  the  latter  were  so  very  straight  that 
the  horses  would  not  face  them,  and  we  had  to  turn  them 
round  and  back  them  over  the  edge,  and  then  all  go 


Mountain  Sheep.  233 

down  with  a  rush.  At  any  rate  it  warmed  our  blood 
to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  the  hoofs.  On  one  of  the 
plateaus  I  got  a  very  long  shot  at  a  black-tail,  which  I 
missed. 

Finally  we  struck  the  head  of  a  long,  winding  valley 
with  a  smooth  bottom,  and  after  cantering  down  it  four  or 
five  miles,  came  to  the  river,  just  after  the  cold,  pale-red 
sun  had  sunk  behind  the  line  of  hills  ahead  of  us.  Our 
horses  were  sharp  shod,  and  crossed  the  ice  without  diffi- 
culty; and  in  a  grove  of  leafless  cotton-woods,  on  the 
opposite  side,  we  found  the  hut  for  which  we  had  been 
making,  the  cowboy  already  inside  with  the  fire  started. 
Throughout  the  night  the  temperature  sank  lower  and 
lower,  and  it  was  impossible  to  keep  the  crazy  old  hut  any- 
where near  freezing-point ;  the  wind  whistled  through  the 
chinks  and  crannies  of  the  logs,  and,  after  a  short  and  by 
no  means  elaborate  supper,  we  were  glad  to  cower  down 
with  our  great  fur  coats  still  on,  under  the  pile  of  buffalo 
robes  and  bear  skins.  My  sleeping-bag  came  in  very 
handily,  and  kept  me  as  warm  as  possible,  in  spite  of  the 
bitter  frost. 

We  were  up  and  had  taken  breakfast  next  morning  by 
the  time  the  first  streak  of  dawn  had  dimmed  the  brilliancy 
of  the  stars,  and  immediately  afterwards  strode  off  on 
foot,  as  we  had  been  hampered  by  the  horses  on  the  day 
before.  We  walked  briskly  across  the  plain  until,  by  the 
time  it  was  light  enough  to  see  to  shoot,  we  came  to  the 
foot  of  a  great  hill,  known  as  Middle  Butte,  a  huge, 
isolated  mass  of  rock,  several  miles  in  length,  and  with 
high  sides,  very  steep  towards  the  nearly  level  summit ;  it 


234  Mountain  Sheep. 

would  be  deemed  a  mountain  of  no  inconsiderable  size  in 
the  East.  We  hunted  carefully  through  the  outlying  foot- 
hills and  projecting  spurs  around  its  base,  without  result, 
finding  but  a  few  tracks,  and  those  very  old  ones,  and 
then  toiled  up  to  the  top,  which,  though  narrow  in  parts, 
in  others  widened  out  into  plateaus  half  a  mile  square. 
Having  made  a  complete  circuit  of  the  top,  peering  over 
the  edge  and  closely  examining  the  flanks  of  the  butte 
with  the  field-glass,  without  having  seen  any  thing,  we 
slid  down  the  other  side  and  took  off  through  a  streak  of 
very  rugged  but  low  country.  This  day,  though  the 
weather  had  grown  even  colder,  we  did  not  feel  it,  for  we 
walked  all  the  while  with  a  quick  pace,  and  the  climbing 
was  very  hard  work.  The  shoulders  and  ledges  of  the 
cliffs  had  become  round  and  slippery  with  the  ice,  and  it 
was  no  easy  task  to  move  up  and  along  them,  clutching 
the  gun  in  one  hand,  and  grasping  each  little  projection 
with  the  other.  Climbing  through  the  Bad  Lands  is  just 
like  any  other  kind  of  mountaineering,  except  that  the 
precipices  and  chasms  are  much  lower ;  but  this  really 
makes  very  little  difference  when  the  ground  is  frozen  as 
solid  as  iron,  for  it  would  be  almost  as  unpleasant  to  fall 
fifty  feet  as  to  fall  two  hundred,  and  the  result  to  the 
person  who  tried  it  would  be  very  much  the  same  in  each 
case. 

Hunting  for  a  day  or  two  without  finding  game  where 
the  work  is  severe  and  toilsome,  is  a  good  test  of  the 
sportsman's  staying  qualities  ;  the  man  who  at  the  end  of 
the  time  is  proceeding  with  as  much  caution  and  deter- 
mination as  at  the  beginning,  has  got  the  right  stuff  in 


Mountain  Sheep.  235 

him.  On  this  day  I  got  rather  tired,  and  committed  one  of 
the  blunders  of  which  no  hunter  ought  ever  to  be  guilty ; 
that  is,  I  fired  at  small  game  while  on  ground  where 
I  might  expect  large.  We  had  seen  two  or  three  jack- 
rabbits  scudding  off  like  noiseless  white  shadows,  and 
finally  came  upon  some  sharp-tail  prairie  fowl  in  a  hollow. 
One  was  quite  near  me,  perched  on  a  bush,  and  with  its 
neck  stretched  up  offered  a  beautiful  mark  ;  I  could  not 
resist  it,  so  knelt  and  fired.  At  the  report  of  the  rifle  (it 
was  a  miss,  by  the  by)  a  head  suddenly  appeared  over  a 
ridge  some  six  hundred  yards  in  front — too  far  off  for  us  to 
make  out  what  kind  of  animal  it  belonged  to, — looked 
fixedly  at  us,  and  then  disappeared.  We  feared  it  might 
be  a  mountain  sheep,  and  that  my  unlucky  shot  had  de- 
prived us  of  the  chance  of  a  try  at  it ;  but  on  hurrying 
up  to  the  place  where  it  had  been  we  were  relieved  to  find 
that  the  tracks  were  only  those  of  a  black-tail.  After  this 
lesson  we  proceeded  in  silence,  making  a  long  circle 
through  the  roughest  kind  of  country.  When  on  the  way 
back  to  camp,  where  the  buttes  rose  highest  and  steepest, 
we  came  upon  fresh  tracks,  but  as  it  was  then  late  in  the 
afternoon,  did  not  try  to  follow  them  that  day.  When 
near  the  hut  I  killed  a  sharp-tail  for  supper,  making  rather 
a  neat  shot,  the  bird  being  eighty  yards  off.  The  night 
was  even  colder  than  the  preceding  one,  and  all  signs  told 
us  that  we  would  soon  have  a  change  for  the  worse  in  the 
weather,  which  made  me  doubly  anxious  to  get  a  sheep 
before  the  storm  struck  us.  We  determined  that  next 
morning  we  would  take  the  horses  and  make  a  quick  push 
for  the  chain  of  high  buttes  where  we  had  seen  the  fresh 
tracks,  and  hunt  them  through  with  thorough  care. 


236  Mountain  Sheep. 

We  started  in  the  cold  gray  of  the  next  morning  and 
pricked  rapidly  off  over  the  frozen  plain,  columns  of  white 
steam  rising  from  the  nostrils  of  the  galloping  horses. 
When  we  reached  the  foot  of  the  hills  where  we  intended 
to  hunt,  and  had  tethered  the  horses,  the  sun  had  already 
risen,  but  it  was  evident  that  the  clear  weather  of  a  fort- 
night past  was  over.  The  air  was  thick  and  hazy,  and 
away  off  in  the  northwest  a  towering  mass  of  grayish 
white  clouds  looked  like  a  weather-breeder ;  every  thing 
boded  a  storm  at  no  distant  date.  The  country  over 
which  we  now  hunted  was  wilder  and  more  mountainous 
than  any  we  had  yet  struck.  High,  sharp  peaks  and 
ridges  broke  off  abruptly  into  narrow  gorges  and  deep 
ravines  ;  they  were  bare  of  all  but  the  scantiest  vegeta- 
tion, save  on  some  of  the  sheltered  sides  where  grew 
groves  of  dark  pines,  now  laden  down  with  feathery 
snow.  The  climbing  was  as  hard  as  ever.  At  first  we 
went  straight  up  the  side  of  the  tallest  peak,  and  then 
along  the  knife-like  ridge  which  joined  it  with  the  next. 
The  ice  made  the  footing  very  slippery  as  we  stepped 
along  the  ledges  or  crawled  round  the  jutting  shoulders, 
and  we  had  to  look  carefully  for  our  footholds ;  while  in 
the  cold,  thin  air  every  quick  burst  we  made  up  a  steep 
hill  caused  us  to  pant  for  breath.  We  had  gone  but  a 
little  way  before  we  saw  fresh  signs  of  the  animals  we 
were  after,  but  it  was  some  time  before  we  came  upon  the 
quarry  itself. 

We  left  the  high  ground  and  descending  into  a  narrow 
chasm  walked  along  its  bottom,  which  was  but  a  couple  of 
feet  wide,  while  the  sides  rose  up  from  it  at  an  acute 


Mountain  Sheep.  237 

angle.  After  following  this  for  a  few  hundred  yards,  we 
turned  a  sharp  corner,  and  shortly  afterward  our  eyes 
were  caught  by  some  grains  of  fresh  earth  lying  on  the 
snow  in  front  of  our  feet.  On  the  sides,  some  feet  above 
our  heads,  were  marks  in  the  snow  which  a  moment's 
glance  showed  us  had  been  made  by  a  couple  of  mountain 
sheep  that  had  come  down  one  side  of  the  gorge  and  had 
leaped  across  to  the  other,  their  sharp  toes  going  through 
the  thin  snow  and  displacing  the  earth  that  had  fallen  to  the 
bottom.  The  tracks  had  evidently  been  made  just  before 
we  rounded  the  corner,  and  as  we  had  been  advancing 
noiselessly  on  the  snow  with  the  wind  in  our  favor,  we 
knew  that  the  animals  could  have  no  suspicion  of  our 
presence.  They  had  gone  up  the  cliff  on  our  right,  but  as 
that  on  our  left  was  much  lower,  and  running  for  some 
distance  parallel  to  the  other,  we  concluded  that  by  running 
along  its  top  we  would  be  most  certain  to  get  a  good  shot. 
Clambering  instantly  up  the  steep  side,  digging  my  hands 
and  feet  into  the  loose  snow,  and  grasping  at  every  little 
rock  or  frozen  projection,  I  reached  the  top  ;  and  then  ran 
forward  along  the  ridge  a  few  paces,  crouching  behind  the 
masses  of  queerly-shaped  sandstone ;  and  saw,  about 
ninety  yards  off  across  the  ravine,  a  couple  of  mountain 
rams.  The  one  with  the  largest  horns  was  broadside 
toward  me,  his  sturdy,  massive  form  outlined  clearly 
against  the  sky,  as  he  stood  on  the  crest  of  the  ridge.  I 
dropped  on  my  knee,  raising  the  rifle  as  I  did  so  ;  for  a 
second  he  did  not  quite  make  me  out,  turning  his  head 
half  round  to  look.  I  held  the  sight  fairly  on  the  point 
just  behind  his  shoulder  and  pulled  the  trigger.  At  the 


238  Mountain  Sheep. 

report  he  staggered  and  pitched  forward,  but  recovered 
himself  and  crossed  over  the  ridge  out  of  sight.  We 
jumped  and  slid  down  into  the  ravine  again,  and  clam- 
bered up  the  opposite  side  as  fast  as  our  lungs  and  the 
slippery  ice  would  let  us ;  then  taking  the  trail  of  the 
wounded  ram  we  trotted  along  it.  We  had  not  far  to 
go  ;  for,  as  I  expected,  we  found  him  lying  on  his  side  a 
couple  of  hundred  yards  beyond  the  ridge,  his  eyes  already 
glazed  in  death.  The  bullet  had  gone  in  behind  the 
shoulder  and  ranged  clean  through  his  body  crosswise, 
going  a  little  forward  ;  no  animal  less  tough  than  a  moun- 
tain ram  could  have  gone  any  distance  at  all  with  such  a 
wound.  He  had  most  obligingly  run  round  to  a  part  of 
the  hill  where  we  could  bring  up  one  of  the  horses  with- 
out very  much  difficulty.  Accordingly  I  brought  up  old 
Manitou,  who  can  carry  any  thing  and  has  no  fear,  and  the 
big-horn  was  soon  strapped  across  his  back.  It  was  a  fine 
ram,  with  perfectly-shaped  but  not  very  large  horns. 

The  other  ram,  two  years  old,  with  small  horns,  had 
bounded  over  the  ridge  before  I  could  get  a  shot  at  him  ; 
we  followed  his  trail  for  half  a  mile,  but  as  he  showed 
no  signs  of  halting,  and  we  were  anxious  to  get  home, 
we  then  gave  up  the  pursuit. 

It  was  still  early  in  the  day,  and  we  made  up  our 
minds  to  push  back  for  the  home  ranch,  as  we  did  not 
wish  to  be  caught  out  in  a  long  storm.  The  lowering 
sky  was  already  overcast  by  a  mass  of  leaden-gray  clouds  ; 
and  it  was  evident  that  we  had  no  time  to  lose.  In 
a  little  over  an  hour  we  were  back  at  the  log  camp, 
where  the  ram  was  shifted  from  Manitou's  back  to  the 


Mountain  Sheep.  239 

buck-board.  A  very  few  minutes  sufficed  to  pack  up 
our  bedding  and  provisions,  and  we  started  home. 
Merrifield  and  I  rode  on  ahead,  not  sparing  the  horses ; 
but  before  we  got  home  the  storm  had  burst,  and  a 
furious  blizzard  blew  in  our  teeth  as  we  galloped  along 
the  last  mile  of  the  river  bottom,  before  coming  to  the 
home  ranch  house ;  and  as  we  warmed  our  stiffened 
limbs  before  the  log  fire,  I  congratulated  myself  upon 
the  successful  outcome  of  what  I  knew  would  be  the 
last  hunting  trip  I  should  take  during  that  season. 

The  death  of  this  ram  was  accomplished  without 
calling  for  any  very  good  shooting  on  our  part.  He 
was  standing  still,  less  than  a  hundred  yards  off,  when 
the  shot  was  fired;  and  we  came  across  him  so  close 
merely  by  accident.  Still,  we  fairly  deserved  our  luck, 
for  we  had  hunted  with  the  most  patient  and  pains- 
taking care  from  dawn  till  nightfall  for  the  better  part 
of  three  days,  spending  most  of  the  time  in  climbing 
at  a  smart  rate  of  speed  up  sheer  cliffs  and  over  rough 
and  slippery  ground.  Still-hunting  the  big-horn  is  always 
a  toilsome  and  laborious  task,  and  the  very  bitter 
weather  during  which  we  had  been  out  had  not  lessened 
the  difficulty  of  the  work,  though  in  the  cold  it  was 
much  less  exhausting  than  it  would  have  been  to  have 
hunted  across  the  same  ground  in  summer.  No  other 
kind  of  hunting  does  as  much  to  bring  out  the  good 
qualities,  both  moral  and  physical,  of  the  sportsmen 
who  follow  it.  If  a  man  keeps  at  it,  it  is  bound  to  make 
him  both  hardy  and  resolute ;  to  strengthen  his  muscles 
and  fill  out  his  lungs. 


240 


Mountain  Sheep. 


Mountain  mutton  is  in  the  fall  the  most  delicious 
eating  furnished  by  any  game  animal.  Nothing  else 
compares  with  it  for  juiciness,  tenderness,  and  flavor ; 
but  at  all  other  times  of  the  year  it  is  tough,  stringy, 
and  worthless. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    LORDLY    BUFFALO. 


ONE  forever  are  the  mighty  herds 
of  the  lordly  buffalo.  A  few 
solitary  individuals  and  small 
bands  are  still  to  be  found  scat- 
tered here  and  there  in  the 
wilder  parts  of  the  plains  ;  and 
though  most  of  these  will  be 
very  soon  destroyed,  others  will 
for  some  years  fight  off  their  doom  and 
lead  a  precarious  existence  either  in  remote  and  almost 
desert  portions  of  the  country  near  the  Mexican  frontier, 
or  else  in  the  wildest  and  most  inaccessible  fastnesses  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains ;  but  the  great  herds,  that  for  the 
first  three  quarters  of  this  century  formed  the  distinguish- 
ing and  characteristic  feature  of  the  Western  plains,  have 
vanished  forever. 

It  is  only  about  a  hundred  years  ago  that  the  white  man, 

in  his  march  westward,  first  encroached  upon  the  lands  of 

241 


242  The  Lordly  Buffalo. 

the  buffalo,  for  these  animals  had  never  penetrated  in  any 
number  to  the  Appalachian  chain  of  mountains.  Indeed, 
it  was  after  the  beginning  of  the  century  before  the  inroads 
of  the  whites  upon  them  grew  at  all  serious.  Then,  though 
constantly  driven  westward,  the  diminution  in  their  terri- 
tory, if  sure,  was  at  least  slow,  although  growing  progres- 
sively more  rapid.  Less  than  a  score  of  years  ago  the 
great  herds,  containing  many  millions  of  individuals, 
ranged  over  a  vast  expanse  of  country  that  stretched  in 
an  unbroken  line  from  near  Mexico  to  far  into  British 
America ;  in  fact,  over  almost  all  the  plains  that  are  now 
known  as  the  cattle  region.  But  since  that  time  their 
destruction  has  gone  on  with  appalling  rapidity  and 
thoroughness ;  and  the  main  factors  in  bringing  it  about 
have  been  the  railroads,  which  carried  hordes  of  hunters 
into  the  land  and  gave  them  means  to  transport  their 
spoils  to  market.  Not  quite  twenty  years  since,  the  range 
was  broken  in  two,  and  the  buffalo  herds  in  the  middle 
slaughtered  or  thrust  aside ;  and  thus  there  resulted  two 
ranges,  the  northern  and  the  southern.  The  latter  was 
the  larger,  but  being  more  open  to  the  hunters,  was  the 
sooner  to  be  depopulated  ;  and  the  last  of  the  great 
southern  herds  was  destroyed  in  1878,  though  scattered 
bands  escaped  and  wandered  into  the  desolate  wastes  to 
the  southwest.  Meanwhile  equally  savage  war  was  waged 
on  the  northern  herds,  and  five  years  later  the  last  of 
these  was  also  destroyed  or  broken  up.  The  bulk  of  this 
slaughter  was  done  in  the  dozen  years  from  1872  to  1883  I 
never  before  in  all  history  were  so  many  large  wild  animals 
of  one  species  slain  in  so  short  a  space  of  time. 


The  Lordly  Buffalo.  243 

The  extermination  of  the  buffalo  has  been  a  veritable 
tragedy  of  the  animal  world.  Other  races  of  animals  have 
been  destroyed  within  historic  times,  but  these  have  been 
species  of  small  size,  local  distribution,  and  limited  num- 
bers, usually  found  in  some  particular  island  or  group  of 
islands ;  while  the  huge  buffalo,  in  countless  myriads, 
ranged  over  the  greater  part  of  a  continent.  Its  nearest 
relative,  the  Old  World  aurochs,  formerly  found  all  through 
the  forests  of  Europe,  is  almost  as  near  the  verge  of 
extinction,  but  with  the  latter  the  process  has  been  slow, 
and  has  extended  over  a  period  of  a  thousand  years, 
instead  of  being  compressed  into  a  dozen.  The  destruc- 
tion of  the  various  larger  species  of  South  African  game  is 
much  more  local,  and  is  proceeding  at  a  much  slower  rate. 
It  may  truthfully  be  said  that  the  sudden  and  complete 
extermination  of  the  vast  herds  of  the  buffalo  is  without  a 
parallel  in  historic  times. 

No  sight  is  more  common  on  the  plains  than  that  of  a 
bleached  buffalo  skull  ;  and  their  countless  numbers  attest 
the  abundance  of  the  animal  at  a  time  not  so  very  long 
past.  On  those  portions  where  the  herds  made  their  last 
stand,  the  carcasses,  dried  in  the  clear,  high  air,  or  the 
mouldering  skeletons,  abound.  Last  year,  in  crossing  the 
country  around  the  heads  of  the  Big  Sandy,  O'Fallon 
Creek,  Little  Beaver,  and  Box  Alder,  these  skeletons  or 
dried  carcasses  were  in  sight  from  every  hillock,  often 
lying  over  the  ground  so  thickly  that  several  score  could 
be  seen  at  once.  A  ranchman  who  at  the  same  time  had 
made  a  journey  of  a  thousand  miles  across  Northern 
Montana,  along  the  Milk  River,  told  me  that,  to  use  his 


244  The  Lordly  Buffalo. 

own  expression,  during  the  whole  distance  he  was  never 
out  of  sight  of  a  dead  buffalo,  and  never  in  sight  of  a  live 
one. 

Thus,  though  gone,  the  traces  of  the  buffalo  are  still 
thick  over  the  land.  Their  dried  dung  is  found  every- 
where, and  is  in  many  places  the  only  fuel  afforded  by  the 
plains  ;  their  skulls,  which  last  longer  than  any  other  part 
of  the  animal,  are  among  the  most  familiar  of  objects  to  the 
plainsman  ;  their  bones  are  in  many  districts  so  plentiful 
that  it  has  become  a  regular  industry,  followed  by  hundreds 
of  men  (christened  "  bone  hunters  "  by  the  frontiersmen), 
to  go  out  with  wagons  and  collect  them  in  great  numbers 
for  the  sake  of  the  phosphates  they  yield  ;  and  Bad  Lands, 
plateaus,  and  prairies  alike,  are  cut  up  in  all  directions 
by  the  deep  ruts  which  were  formerly  buffalo  trails. 

These  buffalo  trails  were  made  by  the  herds  travelling 
strung  out  in  single  file,  and  invariably  taking  the  same 
route  each  time  they  passed  over  the  same  piece  of  ground. 
As  a  consequence,  many  of  the  ruts  are  worn  so  deeply 
into  the  ground  that  a  horseman  riding  along  one  strikes 
his  stirrups  on  the  earth.  In  moving  through  very  broken 
country  they  are  often  good  guides  ;  for  though  buffalo 
can  go  easily  over  the  roughest  places,  they  prefer  to  travel 
where  it  is  smooth,  and  have  a  remarkable  knack  at 
finding  out  the  best  passage  down  a  steep  ravine,  over 
a  broken  cliff,  or  along  a  divide.  In  a  pass,  or,  as  it  is 
called  in  the  West,  "  draw,"  between  two  feeding  grounds, 
through  which  the  buffalo  were  fond  of  going,  fifteen  or 
twenty  deep  trails  may  be  seen  ;  and  often,  where  the  great 
beasts  have  travelled  in  parallel  files,  two  ruts  will  run  side 


The  Lordly  Buffalo.  245 

by  side  over  the  prairie  for  a  mile's  length.  These  old 
trails  are  frequently  used  by  the  cattle  herds  at  the  present 
time,  or  are  even  turned  into  pony  paths  by  the  ranch- 
men. For  many  long  years  after  the  buffalo  die  put  from 
a  place,  their  white  skulls  and  well-worn  roads  remain  as 
melancholy  monuments  of  their  former  existence. 

The  rapid  and  complete  extermination  of  the  buffalo 
affords  an  excellent  instance  of  how  a  race,  that  has  thriven 
and  multiplied  for  ages  under  conditions  of  life  to  which  it 
has  slowly  fitted  itself  by  a  process  of  natural  selection 
continued  for  countless  generations,  may  succumb  at  once 
when  these  surrounding  conditions  are  varied  by  the  intro- 
duction of  one  or  more  new  elements,  immediately  becoming 
the  chief  forces  with  which  it  has  to  contend  in  the  struggle 
for  life.  The  most  striking  characteristics  of  the  buffalo, 
and  those  which  had  been  found  most  useful  in  maintain- 
ing the  species  until  the  white  man  entered  upon  the 
scene,  were  its  phenomenal  gregariousness — surpassed  by 
no  other  four-footed  beast,  and  only  equalled,  if  equalled 
at  all,  by  one  or  two  kinds  of  South  African  antelope, — its 
massive  bulk,  and  unwieldy  strength.  The  fact  that  it 
was  a  plains  and  not  a  forest  or  mountain  animal  was  at 
that  time  also  greatly  in  its  favor.  Its  toughness  and 
hardy  endurance  fitted  it  to  contend  with  purely  natural 
forces  :  to  resist  cold  and  the  winter  blasts,  or  the  heat  of 
a  thirsty  summer,  to  wander  away  to  new  pastures  when 
the  feed  on  the  old  was  exhausted,  to  plunge  over  broken 
ground,  and  to  plough  its  way  through  snow-drifts  or  quag- 
mires. But  one  beast  of  prey  existed  sufficiently  powerful  to 
conquer  it  when  full  grown  and  in  health ;  and  this,  the 


246  Tlie  Lordly  Biiffalo. 

grizzly  bear,  could  only  be  considered  an  occasional  foe. 
The  Indians  were  its  most  dangerous  enemies,  but  they 
were  without  horses,  and  their  weapons,  bows  and  arrows, 
were  only  available  at  close  range  ;  so  that  a  slight  degree 
of  speed  enabled  buffalo  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  their 
human  foes  when  discovered,  and  on  the  open  plains  a 
moderate  development  of  the  senses  was  sufficient  to  warn 
them  of  the  approach  of  the  latter  before  they  had  come 
up  to  the  very  close  distance  required  for  their  primitive 
weapons  to  take  effect.  Thus  the  strength,  size,  and  gre- 
garious habits  of  the  brute  were  sufficient  for  a  protection 
against  most  foes ;  and  a  slight  degree  of  speed  and 
moderate  development  of  the  senses  served  as  adequate 
guards  against  the  grizzlies  and  bow-bearing  foot  Indians. 
Concealment  and  the  habit  of  seeking  lonely  and  remote 
places  for  a  dwelling  would  have  been  of  no  service. 

But  the  introduction  of  the  horse,  and  shortly  after- 
wards the  incoming  of  white  hunters  carrying  long-range 
rifles,  changed  all  this.  The  buffaloes'  gregarious  habits 
simply  rendered  them  certain  to  be  seen,  and  made  it  a 
matter  of  perfect  ease  to  follow  them  up  ;  their  keeping  to 
the  open  plains  heightened  their  conspicuousness,  while 
their  senses  were  too  dull  to  discover  their  foes  at  such  a 
distance  as  to  nullify  the  effects  of  the  long  rifles ;  their 
speed  was  not  such  as  to  enable  them  to  flee  from  a  horse- 
man ;  and  their  size  and  strength  merely  made  them  too 
clumsy  either  to  escape  from  or  to  contend  with  their  foes. 
Add  to  this  the  fact  that  their  hides  and  flesh  were 
valuable,  and  it  is  small  wonder  that  under  the  new  order 
of  things  they  should  have  vanished  with  such  rapidity. 


The  Lordly  Buffalo.  247 

The  incoming  of  the  cattle-men  was  another  cause  of 
the  completeness  of  their  destruction.  Wherever  there  is 
good  feed  for  a  buffalo,  there  is  good  feed  for  a  steer  or 
cow  ;  and  so  the  latter  have  penetrated  into  all  the  pas- 
tures of  the  former  ;  and  of  course  the  cowboys  follow. 
A  cowboy  is  not  able  to  kill  a  deer  or  antelope  unless  in 
exceptional  cases,  for  they  are  too  fleet,  too  shy,  or  keep 
themselves  too  well  hidden.  But  a  buffalo  neither  tries 
nor  is  able  to  do  much  in  the  way  of  hiding  itself ;  its 
senses  are  too  dull  to  give  it  warning  in  time  ;  and  it  is 
not  so  swift  as  a  horse,  so  that  a  cowboy,  riding  round  in 
the  places  where  cattle,  and  therefore  buffalo,  are  likely  to 
be,  is  pretty  sure  to  see  any  of  the  latter  that  may  be 
about,  and  then  can  easily  approach  near  enough  to  be 
able  to  overtake  them  when  they  begin  running.  The 
size  and  value  of  the  animal  makes  the  chase  after  it  very 
keen.  Hunters  will  follow  the  trail  of  a  band  for  days, 
when  they  would  not  follow  that  of  deer  or  antelope  for  a 
half  hour. 

Events  have  developed  a  race  of  this  species,  known 
either  as  the  wood  or  mountain  buffalo,  which  is  acquiring, 
and  has  already  largely  acquired,  habits  widely  different 
from  those  of  the  others  of  its  kind.  It  is  found  in  the 
wooded  and  most  precipitous  portions  of  the  mountains, 
instead  of  on  the  level  and  open  plains  ;  it  goes  singly  or 
in  small  parties,  instead  of  in  huge  herds ;  and  it  is  more 
agile  and  infinitely  more  wary  than  is  its  prairie  cousin. 
The  formation  of  this  race  is  due  solely  to  the  extremely 
severe  process  of  natural  selection  that  has  been  going  on 
among  the  buffalo  herds  for  the  last  sixty  or  seventy  years  ; 


248  The  Lordly  Buffalo. 

the  vast  majority  of  the  individuals  were  utterly  unable 
to  accommcdate  themselves  to  the  sudden  and  complete 
change  in  the  surrounding  forces  with  which  they  had  to 
cope,  and  therefore  died  out ;  while  a  very  few  of  the 
more  active  and  wary,  and  of  those  most  given  to  wander- 
ing off  into  mountainous  and  out-of-the-way  places,  in  each 
generation  survived,  and  among  these  the  wariness  con- 
tinually increased,  partly  by  personal  experience,  and  still 
more  by  inheriting  an  increasingly  suspicious  nature  from 
their  ancestors.  The  sense  of  smell  always  was  excellent 
in  the  buffalo  ;  the  sense  of  hearing  becomes  much  quicker 
in  any  woods  animal  than  it  is  in  one  found  on  the  plains  ; 
while  in  beasts  of  the  forest  the  eyesight  does  not  have  to 
be  as  keen  as  is  necessary  for  their  protection  in  open 
country.  On  the  mountains  the  hair  grows  longer  and 
denser,  and  the  form  rather  more  thickset.  As  a  result,  a 
new  race  has  been  built  up  ;  and  we  have  an  animal  far 
better  fitted  to  "  harmonize  with  the  environment,"  to  use 
the  scientific  cant  of  the  day.  Unfortunately  this  race 
has  developed  too  late.  With  the  settlement  of  the  coun- 
try it  will  also  disappear,  unless  very  stringent  laws  are 
made  for  its  protection  ;  but  at  least  its  existence  will  for 
some  years  prevent  the  total  extermination  of  the  species 
as  a  whole.  It  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  even  this  shyer 
kind  of  buffalo  has  not  got  the  keen  senses  of  other  large 
game,  such  as  moose  ;  and  it  is  more  easily  followed  and 
much  more  keenly  and  eagerly  sought  after  than  would  be 
any  other  animal  smaller  and  less  valuable  to  the  hunter 
than  itself. 

While  the  slaughter  of  the  buffalo  has  been  in  places 


The  Lordly  Buffalo.  249 

needless  and  brutal,  and  while  it  is  to  be  greatly  re- 
gretted that  the  species  is  likely  to  become  extinct,  and 
while,  moreover,  from  a  purely  selfish  standpoint  many, 
including  myself,  would  rather  see  it  continue  to  exist 
as  the  chief  feature  in  the  unchanged  life  of  the  Western 
wilderness ;  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  its  continued  existence  in  any  numbers  was 
absolutely  incompatible  with  any  thing  but  a  very  sparse 
settlement  of  the  country ;  and  that  its  destruction  was  the 
condition  precedent  upon  the  advance  of  white  civiliza- 
tion in  the  West,  and  was  a  positive  boon  to  the  more 
thrifty  and  industrious  frontiersmen.  Where  the  buffalo 
were  plenty,  they  ate  up  all  the  grass  that  could  have 
supported  cattle.  The  country  over  which  the  huge 
herds  grazed  during  the  last  year  or  two  of  their  ex- 
istence was  cropped  bare,  and  the  grass  did  not  grow 
to  its  normal  height  and  become  able  to  support  cattle 
for,  in  some  cases  two,  in  others  three,  seasons.  Every 
buffalo  needed  as  much  food  as  an  ox  or  cow  ;  and  if 
the  former  abounded,  the  latter  perforce  would  have  to 
be  scarce.  Above  all,  the  extermination  of  the  buffalo 
was  the  only  way  of  solving  the  Indian  question.  As 
long  as  this  large  animal  of  the  chase  existed,  the  Indians 
simply  could  not  be  kept  on  reservations,  and  always  had 
an  ample  supply  of  meat  on  hand  to  support  them  in  the 
event  of  a  war ;  and  its  disappearance  was  the  only  method 
of  forcing  them  to  at  least  partially  abandon  their  savage 
mode  of  life.  From  the  standpoint  of  humanity  at  large, 
the  extermination  of  the  buffalo  has  been  a  blessing. 
The  many  have  been  benefited  by  it ;  and  I  suppose 


250  The  Lordly  Buffalo. 

the  comparatively  few  of  us  who  would  have  preferred 
the  continuance  of  the  old  order  of  things,  merely  for 
the  sake  of  our  own  selfish  enjoyment,  have  no  right 
to  complain. 

The  buffalo  is  easier  killed  than  is  any  other  kind  of 
plains  game ;  but  its  chase  is  very  far  from  being  the 
tame  amusement  it  has  been  lately  represented.  It  is 
genuine  sport ;  it  needs  skill,  marksmanship,  and  hardi- 
hood in  the  man  who  follows  it,  and  if  he  hunts  on  horse- 
back, it  needs  also  pluck  and  good  riding.  It  is  in  no 
way  akin  to  various  forms  of  so-called  sport  in  vogue 
in  parts  of  the  East,  such  as  killing  deer  in  a  lake  or 
by  fire  hunting,  or  even  by  watching  at  a  runaway.  No 
man  who  is  not  of  an  adventurous  temper,  and  able  to 
stand  rough  food  and  living,  will  penetrate  to  the  haunts 
of  the  buffalo.  The  animal  is  so  tough  and  tenacious 
of  life  that  it  must  be  hit  in  the  right  spot ;  and  care 
must  be  used  in  approaching  it,  for  its  nose  is  very  keen, 
and  though  its  sight  is  dull,  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
plains  it  frequents  are  singularly  bare  of  cover;  while, 
finally,  there  is  just  a  faint  spice  of  danger  in  the  pursuit, 
for  the  bison,  though  the  least  dangerous  of  all  bovine 
animals,  will,  on  occasions,  turn  upon  the  hunter,  and 
though  its  attack  is,  as  a  rule,  easily  avoided,  yet  in  rare 
cases  it  manages  to  charge  home.  A  ranchman  of  my 
acquaintance  once,  many  years  ago,  went  out  buffalo 
hunting  on  horseback,  together  with  a  friend  who  was 
unused  to  the  sport,  and  who  was  mounted  on  a  large,  un- 
trained, nervous  horse.  While  chasing  a  bull,  the  friend's 
horse  became  unmanageable,  and  when  the  bull  turned, 


The  Lordly  Buffalo.  25i 

proved  too  clumsy  to  get  out  of  the  way,  and  was 
caught  on  the  horns,  one  of  which  entered  its  flank, 
while  the  other  inflicted  a  huge,  bruised  gash  across 
the  man's  thigh,  tearing  the  muscles  all  out.  Both 
horse  and  rider  were  flung  to  the  ground  with  tremen- 
dous violence.  The  horse  had  to  be  killed,  and  the  man 
died  in  a  few  hours  from  the  shock,  loss  of  blood,  and 
internal  injuries.  Such  an  accident,  however,  is  very 
exceptional. 

My  brother  was  in  at  the  death  of  the  great  southern 
herds  in  1877,  and  had  a  good  deal  of  experience  in  buffalo 
hunting ;  and  once  or  twice  was  charged  by  old  bulls,  but 
never  had  any  difficulty  in  either  evading  the  charge  or  else 
killing  the  brute  as  it  came  on.  My  cousin,  John  Roose- 
velt, also  had  one  adventure  with  a  buffalo,  in  which  he 
received  rather  a  fright.  He  had  been  out  on  foot  with 
a  dog  and  had  severely  wounded  a  buffalo  bull,  which 
nevertheless,  with  the  wonderful  tenacity  of  life  and 
ability  to  go  over  apparently  inaccessible  places  that 
this  species  shows,  managed  to  clamber  up  a  steep, 
almost  perpendicular,  cliff.  My  cousin  climbed  up  after 
it,  with  some  difficulty  ;  on  reaching  the  top  he  got 
his  elbows  over  and  drew  himself  up  on  them  only  to 
find  the  buffalo  fronting  him  with  lowered  head  not  a 
dozen  feet  off.  Immediately  upon  seeing  him  it  cocked 
up  its  tail  and  came  forward.  He  was  clinging  with 
both  hands  to  the  edge  and  could  not  use  his  rifle;  so, 
not  relishing  what  was  literally  a  tete-a-tete,  he  promptly 
let  go  and  slid  or  rather  rolled  head  over  heels  to  the  foot 
of  the  cliff,  not  hurting  himself  much  in  the  sand,  though 


252  The  Lordly  Buffalo. 

of  course  a  good  deal  jarred  by  the  fall.  The  buffalo 
came  on  till  its  hoofs  crumbled  the  earth  at  the  brink, 
when  the  dog  luckily  got  up  and  distracted  its  attention ; 
meanwhile,  my  cousin,  having  bounced  down  to  the  bottom, 
picked  himself  up,  shook  himself,  and  finding  that  nothing 
was  broken,  promptly  scrambled  up  the  bluff  at  another 
place  a  few  yards  off  and  shot  his  antagonist. 

When  my  cattle  first  came  on  the  Little  Missouri  three 
of  my  men  took  a  small  bunch  of  them  some  fifty  miles  to 
the  south  and  there  wintered  with  them,  on  what  were 
then  the  outskirts  of  the  buffalo  range,  the  herds  having 
been  pressed  up  northwards.  In  the  intervals  of  tending 
the  cattle — work  which  was  then  entirely  new  to  them — 
they  occupied  themselves  in  hunting  buffalo,  killing  during 
the  winter  sixty  or  seventy,  some  of  them  on  horseback, 
but  mostly  by  still-hunting  them  on  foot.  Once  or  twice 
the  bulls  when  wounded  turned  to  bay ;  and  a  couple  of 
them  on  one  occasion  charged  one  of  the  men  and  forced 
him  to  take  refuge  upon  a  steep  isolated  butte.  At 
another  time  the  three  of  them  wounded  a  cow  so  badly 
that  she  broke  down  and  would  run  no  farther,  turning  to 
bay  in  a  small  clump  of  thick  trees.  As  this  would  have 
been  a  very  bad  place  in  which  to  skin  the  body,  they 
wished  to  get  her  out  and  tried  to  tease  her  into  charging ; 
but  she  seemed  too  weak  to  make  the  effort.  Emboldened 
by  her  apathy  one  of  the  men  came  up  close  to  her  behind, 
while  another  was  standing  facing  her;  and  the  former 
finally  entered  the  grove  of  trees  and  poked  her  with  a 
long  stick.  This  waked  her  up  most  effectually,  and 
instead  of  turning  on  her  assailant  she  went  headlong  at 


The  Lordly  Buffalo.  253 

the  man  in  front.  He  leaped  to  one  side  just  in  time,  one 
of  her  horns  grazing  him,  ripping  away  his  clothes  and 
knocking  him  over ;  as  he  lay  she  tried  to  jump  on  him 
with  her  forefeet,  but  he  rolled  to  one  side,  and  as  she 
went  past  she  kicked  at  him  like  a  vicious  mule.  The 
effort  exhausted  her,  however,  and  she  fell  before  going  a 
dozen  yards  farther.  The  man  who  was  charged  had 
rather  a  close  shave  ;  thanks  to  the  rashness  and  contempt 
of  the  game's  prowess  which  they  all  felt — for  all  three  are 
very  quiet  men  and  not  afraid  of  any  thing.  It  is  always  a 
good  rule  to  be  cautious  in  dealing  with  an  apparently 
dead  or  dying  buffalo.  About  the  time  the  above  inci- 
dent occurred  a  party  of  hunters  near  my  ranch  killed  a 
buffalo,  as  they  thought,  and  tied  a  pony  to  its  foreleg,  to 
turn  it  over,  as  its  position  was  a  very  bad  one  for  skinning. 
Barely  had  the  pony  been  tied  when  the  buffalo  came  to 
with  a  jump,  killed  the  unfortunate  pony,  and  needed  a 
dozen  more  balls  before  he  fell  for  good. 

At  that  time  the  buffalo  would  occasionally  be  scat- 
tered among  the  cattle,  but,  as  a  rule,  avoided  the  latter 
and  seemed  to  be  afraid  of  them  ;  while  the  cattle,  on  the 
contrary,  had  no  apparent  dread  of  the  buffalo,  unless  it 
happened  that  on  some  occasion  they  got  caught  by  a 
herd  of  the  latter  that  had  stampeded.  A  settler  or  small 
ranchman,  not  far  from  my  place,  was  driving  in  a  team  of 
oxen  in  a  wagon  one  day  three  years  since,  when,  in  cross- 
ing a  valley,  he  encountered  a  little  herd  of  stampeded 
buffalo,  who,  in  their  blind  and  heedless  terror,  ran  into 
him  and  knocked  over  the  wagon  and  oxen.  The  oxen 
never  got  over  the  fright  the  rough  handling  caused  them, 


254  The  Lordly  B^lff:alo. 

and  ever  afterward  became  unmanageable  and  tore  off  at 
sight  or  smell  of  a  buffalo.  It  is  said  that  the  few  buffalo 
left  in  the  country  through  which  the  head  waters  of  the 
Belle  Fourche  flow,  have  practically  joined  themselves  to 
the  great  herds  of  cattle  now  found  all  over  that  region. 

Buffalo  are  very  easily  tamed.  On  a  neighboring 
ranch  there  are  four  which  were  taken  when  very  young 
calves.  They  wander  about  with  the  cattle,  and  are  quite 
as  familiar  as  any  of  them,  and  do  not  stray  any  farther 
away.  One  of  them  was  captured  when  a  yearling,  by  the 
help  of  a  large  yellow  hound.  The  cowboy  had  been 
chasing  it  some  time  and,  finally,  fearing  it  might  escape, 
hied  on  the  hound,  which  dashed  in,  caught  the  buffalo  by 
the  ear,  and  finally  brought  it  down  to  its  knees,  when 
the  cowboy,  by  means  of  his  lariat  secured  it,  and,  with  the 
help  of  a  companion,  managed  to  get  it  back  to  the  ranch. 
Buffalo  can  be  trained  to  draw  a  wagon,  and  are  valuable 
for  their  great  strength  ;  but  they  are  very  headstrong  and 
stupid.  If  thirsty,  for  instance,  and  they  smell  or  see 
water,  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to  prevent  their  going  to 
it,  no  matter  if  it  is  in  such  a  place  that  they  have  to 
upset  the  wagon  to  get  down  to  it,  nor  how  deep  the  mud 
is.  When  tamed  they  do  not  seem  to  be  as  ferocious  as 
ordinary  cattle  that  are  allowed  to  go  free  ;  but  they  are 
such  strong,  blundering  brutes  that  very  few  fences  will 
hold  them. 

My  men,  in  hunting  buffalo,  which  was  with  them  an 
occasional  occupation  and  not  a  regular  pursuit,  used  light 
Winchesters  ;  but  the  professional  buffalo  hunters  carried 
either  40-90  or  45-120  Sharps,  than  which  there  are  in  the 


The  Lordly  Biijfalo.  255 

world  no  rifles  more  accurate  or  powerful ;  with  the  larger- 
calibred  ones  (45  or  50)  a  man  could  easily  kill  an  ele- 
phant. These  weapons  are  excellent  for  very  long  range 
work,  being  good  for  half  a  mile  and  over  ;  and  sometimes 
the  hunters  were  able  to  kill  very  many  buffalo  at  a  time, 
owing  to  their  curious  liability  to  fits  of  stupid,  panic 
terror.  Sometimes  when  these  panics  seize  them  they 
stampede  and  run  off  in  headlong,  heedless  flight,  going 
over  any  thing  in  their  way.  Once,  in  mid-winter,  one  of 
my  men  was  lying  out  in  the  open,  under  a  heavy  roll  of 
furs,  the  wagon  sheet  over  all.  During  the  night  a  small 
herd  of  stampeded  buffalo  passed  by,  and  one  of  them 
jumped  on  the  bed,  almost  trampling  on  the  sleeper,  and 
then  bounded  off,  as  the  latter  rose  with  a  yell.  The 
others  of  the  herd  passed  almost  within  arm's  length  on 
each  side. 

Occasionally  these  panic  fits  have  the  opposite  effect 
and  make  them  run  together  and  stand  still  in  a  stupid, 
frightened  manner.  This  is  now  and  then  the  result  when 
a  hunter  fires  at  a  herd  while  keeping  himself  concealed  ; 
and  on  rare  occasions  (for  buffalo  act  very  differently  at 
different  times,  according  to  their  moods)  it  occurs  even 
when  he  is  in  full  sight.  When  they  are  made  to  act 
thus  it  is  called  in  hunters'  parlance  getting  a  "  stand  "  on 
them  ;  and  often  thirty  or  forty  have  been  killed  in  one 
such  stand,  the  hunter  hardly  shifting  his  position  the 
whole  time.  Often,  with  their  long-range  heavy  rifles, 
the  hunters  would  fire  a  number  of  shots  into  a  herd  half  a 
mile  off,  and  on  approaching  would  find  that  they  had 
bagged  several — for  the  Sharps  rifle  has  a  very  long 


256  The  Lordly  Buffalo. 

range,  and  the  narrow,  heavy  conical  bullets  will  penetrate 
almost  any  thing.  Once  while  coming  in  over  the  plains 
with  an  ox  wagon  two  of  my  cowboys  surprised  a  band  of 
buffaloes,  which  on  being  fired  at  ran  clear  round  them 
and  then  made  a  stand  in  nearly  their  former  position  ;  and 
there  they  stood  until  the  men  had  fired  away  most  of 
their  ammunition,  but  only  half  a  dozen  or  so  were 
killed,  the  Winchesters  being  too  light  for  such  a  distance. 
Hunting  on  foot  is  much  the  most  destructive  way  of 
pursuing  buffaloes  ;  but  it  lacks  the  excitement  of  chasing 
them  with  horses. 

When  in  Texas  my  brother  had  several  chances  to 
hunt  them  on  horseback,  while  making  a  trip  as  guest  of  a 
captain  of  United  States  cavalry.  The  country  through 
which  they  hunted  was  rolling  and  well  watered,  the  buf- 
falo being  scattered  over  it  in  bands  of  no  great  size. 
While  riding  out  to  look  for  the  game  they  were  mounted 
on  large  horses ;  when  a  band  was  spied  they  would  dis- 
mount and  get  on  the  smaller  buffalo  ponies  which  the 
orderlies  had  been  leading  behind  them.  Then  they 
would  carefully  approach  from  the  leeward  side,  if  possible 
keeping  behind  some  hill  or  divide.  When  this  was  no 
longer  possible  they  trotted  gently  towards  the  game, 
which  usually  gathered  together  and  stood  for  a  moment 
looking  at  them.  The  instant  the  buffalo  turned,  the 
spurs  were  put  in  and  the  ponies  raced  forward  for  all 
there  was  in  them,  it  being  an  important  point  to  close  as 
soon  as  possible,  as  buffalo,  though  not  swift,  are  very 
enduring.  Usually  a  half  a  mile  took  the  hunters  up  to 
the  game,  when  each  singled  out  his  animal,  rode  along- 


The  Lordly  Buffalo.  257 

side  on  its  left  flank,  so  close  as  almost  to  be  able  to  touch 
it  with  the  hand,  and  fired  the  heavy  revolver  into  the 
loins  or  small  of  the  back,  the  bullet  ranging  forward.  At 
the  instant  of  firing,  the  trained  pony  swerved  off  to  the 
left,  almost  at  right  angles  to  its  former  course,  so  as  to 
avoid  the  lunging  charge  sometimes  made  by  the  wounded 
brute.  If  the  animal  kept  on,  the  hunter,  having  made  a 
half  circle,  again  closed  up  and  repeated  the  shot ;  very 
soon  the  buffalo  came  to  a  halt,  then  its  head  dropped,  it 
straddled  widely  with  its  forelegs,  swayed  to  and  fro,  and 
pitched  heavily  forward  on  its  side.  The  secret  of  success 
in  this  sort  of  hunting  is  to  go  right  up  by  the  side  of  the 
buffalo  ;  if  a  man  stays  off  at  a  distance  of  fifteen  or 
twenty  feet  he  may  fire  a  score  of  shots  and  not  kill  or 
cripple  his  game. 

While  hunting  this,  the  largest  of  American  animals, 
on  horseback  is  doubtless  the  most  exciting  way  in  which 
its  chase  can  be  carried  on,  we  must  beware  of  crying 
down  its  pursuit  on  foot.  To  be  sure,  in  the  latter  case, 
the  actual  stalking  and  shooting  the  buffalo  does  not  need 
on  the  part  of  the  hunter  as  much  skill  and  as  good 
marksmanship  as  is  the  case  in  hunting  most  other  kinds 
of  large  game,  and  is  but  a  trifle  more  risky  ;  yet,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  fatigue  of  following  the  game  is  much 
greater,  and  the  country  is  usually  so  wild  as  to  call  for 
some  hardihood  and  ability  to  stand  rough  work  on  the 
part  of  the  man  who  penetrates  it. 

One  September  I  determined  to  take  a  short  trip 
after  bison.  At  that  time  I  was  staying  in  a  cow-camp 
a  good  many  miles  up  the  river  from  my  ranch  ;  there 


The  Lordly  Buffalo. 

were  then  no  cattle  south  of  me,  where  there  are  now 
very  many  thousand  head,  and  the  buffalo  had  been 
plentiful  in  the  country  for  a  couple  of  winters  past,  but 
the  last  of  the  herds  had  been  destroyed  or  driven  out  six 
months  before,  and  there  were  only  a  few  stragglers  left. 
It  was  one  of  my  first  hunting  trips  ;  previously  I  had 
shot  with  the  rifle  very  little,  and  that  only  at  deer  or 
antelope.  I  took  as  a  companion  one  of  my  best  men, 
named  Ferris  (a  brother  of  the  Ferris  already  mentioned)  ; 
we  rode  a  couple  of  ponies,  not  very  good  ones,  and  each 
carried  his  roll  of  blankets  and  a  very  small  store  of  food 
in  a  pack  behind  the  saddle. 

Leaving  the  cow-camp  early  in  the  morning,  we 
crossed  the  Little  Missouri  and  for  the  first  ten  miles 
threaded  our  way  through  the  narrow  defiles  and  along  the 
tortuous  divides  of  a  great  tract  of  Bad  Lands.  Although  it 
was  fall  and  the  nights  were  cool  the  sun  was  very  hot  in 
the  middle  of  the  day,  and  we  jogged  along  at  a  slow 
pace,  so  as  not  to  tire  our  ponies.  Two  or  three  black- 
tail  deer  were  seen,  some  distance  off,  and  when  we  were 
a  couple  of  hours  on  our  journey,  we  came  across  the 
fresh  track  of  a  bull  buffalo.  Buffalo  wander  a  great  dis- 
tance, for,  though  they  do  not  go  fast,  yet  they  may  keep 
travelling,  as  they  graze,  all  day  long ;  and  though  this  one 
had  evidently  passed  but  a  few  hours  before,  we  were  not 
sure  we  would  see  him.  His  tracks  were  easily  followed 
as  long  as  he  had  kept  to  the  soft  creek  bottom,  crossing 
and  recrossing  the  narrow  wet  ditch  which  wound  its  way 
through  it ;  but  when  he  left  this  and  turned  up  a  wind- 
ing coulie  that  branched  out  in  every  direction,  his  hoofs 


The  Lordly  Buffalo.  259 

scarcely  made  any  marks  in  the  hard  ground.  We  rode  up 
the  ravine,  carefully  examining  the  soil  for  nearly  half  an 
hour,  however  ;  finally,  as  we  passed  the  mouth  of  a  little 
side  coulie,  there  was  a  plunge  and  crackle  through  the 
bushes  at  its  head,  and  a  shabby-looking  old  bull  bison 
galloped  out  of  it  and,  without  an  instant's  hesitation, 
plunged  over  a  steep  bank  into  a  patch  of  rotten,  broken 
ground  which  led  around  the  base  of  a  high  butte.  So 
quickly  did  he  disappear  that  we  had  not  time  to  dis- 
mount and  fire.  Spurring  our  horses  we  galloped  up  to 
the  brink  of  the  cliff  down  which  he  had  plunged  ;  it  was 
remarkable  that  he  should  have  gone  down  it  unhurt. 
From  where  we  stood  we  could  see  nothing ;  so,  getting 
our  horses  over  the  broken  ground  as  fast  as  possible,  we 
ran  to  the  butte  and  rode  round  it,  only  to  see  the  buffalo 
come  out  of  the  broken  land  and  climb  up  the  side  of 
another  butte  over  a  quarter  of  a  mile  off.  In  spite  of 
his  great  weight  and  cumbersome,  heavy-looking  gait,  he 
climbed  up  the  steep  bluff  with  ease  and  even  agility,  and 
when  he  had  reached  the  ridge  stood  and  looked  back  at 
us  for  a  moment ;  while  so  doing  he  held  his  head  high 
up,  and  at  that  distance  his  great  shaggy  mane  and  huge 
fore-quarter  made  him  look  like  a  lion.  In  another 
second  he  again  turned  away  and  made  off;  and,  being 
evidently  very  shy  and  accustomed  to  being  harassed  by 
hunters,  must  have  travelled  a  long  distance  before  stop- 
ping, for  we  followed  his  trail  for  some  miles  until  it  got 
on  such  hard,  dry  ground  that  his  hoofs  did  not  leave  a 
scrape  in  the  soil,  and  yet  did  not  again  catch  so  much  as 
a  glimpse  of  him. 


260  The  Lordly  Buffalo. 

Soon  after  leaving  his  trail  we  came  out  on  the  great, 
broken  prairies  that  lie  far  back  from  the  river.  These 
are  by  no  means  everywhere  level.  A  flat  space  of  a 
mile  or  two  will  be  bounded  by  a  low  cliff  or  a  row  of 
small  round-topped  buttes  ;  or  will  be  interrupted  by  a 
long,  gently  sloping  ridge,  the  divide  between  two  creeks  ; 
or  by  a  narrow  canyon,  perhaps  thirty  feet  deep  and  not  a 
dozen  wide,  stretching  for  miles  before  there  is  a  crossing 
place.  The  smaller  creeks  were  dried  up,  and  were  merely 
sinuous  hollows  in  the  prairie  ;  but  one  or  two  of  the 
larger  ones  held  water  here  and  there,  and  cut  down 
through  the  land  in  bold,  semicircular  sweeps,  the  outside 
of  each  curve  being  often  bounded  by  a  steep  bluff  with 
trees  at  its  bottom,  and  occasionally  holding  a  miry  pool. 
At  one  of  these  pools  we  halted,  about  ten  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  and  lunched  ;  the  banks  were  so  steep  and 
rotten  that  we  had  to  bring  water  to  the  more  clumsy  of 
the  two  ponies  in  a  hat. 

Then  we  remounted  and  fared  on  our  way,  scanning 
the  country  far  and  near  from  ever}'  divide,  but  seeing  no 
trace  of  game.  The  air  was  hot  and  still,  and  the  brown, 
barren  land  stretched  out  on  every  side  for  leagues  of 
dreary  sameness.  Once  we  came  to  a  canyon  which  ran 
across  our  path,  and  followed  along  its  brink  for  a  mile  to 
find  a  place  where  we  could  get  into  it  ;  when  we  finally 
found  such  a  place,  we  had  to  back  the  horses  down  to  the 
bottom  and  then  lead  them  along  it  for  some  hundred 
yards  before  finding  a  break  through  which  we  could  climb 
out 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  before  we  saw  any  game  ; 


The  Lordly  Buffalo.  261 

then  we  made  out  in  the  middle  of  a  large  plain  three 
black  specks,  which  proved  to  be  buffalo — old  bulls.  Our 
horses  had  come  a  good  distance,  under  a  hot  sun,  and 
as  they  had  had  no  water  except  from  the  mud-hole  in 
the  morning  they  were  in  no  condition  for  running. 
They  were  not  very  fast  anyhow  ;  so,  though  the  ground 
was  unfavorable,  we  made  up  our  minds  to  try  to  creep 
up  to  the  buffalo.  We  left  the  ponies  in  a  hollow  half  a 
mile  from  the  game,  and  started  off  on  our  hands  and  knees, 
taking  advantage  of  every  sage-brush  as  cover.  After  a 
while  we  had  to  lie  flat  on  our  bodies  and  wriggle  like 
snakes  ;  and  while  doing  this  I  blundered  into  a  bed  of 
cactus,  and  filled  my  hands  with  the  spines.  After  taking 
advantage  of  every  hollow,  hillock,  or  sage-brush,  we  got 
within  about  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  or  fifty  yards  of 
where  the  three  bulls  were  unconsciously  feeding,  and  as 
all  between  was  bare  ground  I  drew  up  and  fired.  It  was 
the  first  time  I  ever  shot  at  buffalo,  and,  confused  by  the 
bulk  and  shaggy  hair  of  the  beast,  I  aimed  too  far  back  at 
one  that  was  standing  nearly  broadside  on  towards  me. 
The  bullet  told  on  his  body  with  a  loud  crack,  the  dust 
flying  up  from  his  hide  ;  but  it  did  not  work  him  any  im- 
mediate harm,  or  in  the  least  hinder  him  from  making  off; 
and  away  went  all  three,  with  their  tails  up,  disappearing 
over  a  slight  rise  in  the  ground. 

Much  disgusted,  we  trotted  back  to  where  the  horses 
were  picketed,  jumped  on  them,  a  good  deal  out  of 
breath,  and  rode  after  the  flying  game.  We  thought 
that  the  wounded  one  might  turn  out  and  leave  the 
others  ;  and  so  followed  them,  though  they  had  over  a 


262  The  Lordly  Buffalo. 

mile's  start.  For  seven  or  eight  miles  we  loped  our  jaded 
horses  along  at  a  brisk  pace,  occasionally  seeing  the  buf- 
falo far  ahead ;  and  finally,  when  the  sun  had  just  set,  we 
saw  that  all  three  had  come  to  a  stand  in  a  gentle  hollow. 
There  was  no  cover  anywhere  near  them  ;  and,  as  a  last 
desperate  resort,  we  concluded  to  try  to  run  them  on  our 
worn-out  ponies. 

As  we  cantered  toward  them  they  faced  us  for  a 
second  and  then  turned  round  and  made  off,  while  with 
spurs  and  quirts  we  made  the  ponies  put  on  a  burst  that 
enabled  us  to  close  in  with  the  wounded  one  just  about 
the  time  that  the  lessening  twilight  had  almost  vanished ; 
while  the  rim  of  the  full  moon  rose  above  the  horizon. 
The  pony  I  was  on  could  barely  hold  its  own,  after 
getting  up  within  sixty  or  seventy  yards  of  the  wounded 
bull ;  my  companion,  better  mounted,  forged  ahead,  a 
little  to  one  side.  The  bull  saw  him  coming  and  swerved 
from  his  course,  and  by  cutting  across  I  was  able  to  get 
nearly  up  to  him.  The  ground  over  which  we  were  run- 
ning was  fearful,  being  broken  into  holes  and  ditches, 
separated  by  hillocks ;  in  the  dull  light,  and  at  the  speed 
we  were  going,  no  attempt  could  be  made  to  guide  the 
horses,  and  the  latter,  fagged  out  by  their  exertions, 
floundered  and  pitched  forward  at  every  stride,  hardly 
keeping  their  legs.  When  up  within  twenty  feet  I  fired 
my  rifle,  but  the  darkness,  and  especially  the  violent, 
labored  motion  of  my  pony,  made  me  miss ;  I  tried  to 
get  in  closer,  when  suddenly  up  went  the  bull's  tail,  and 
wheeling,  he  charged  me  with  lowered  horns.  My  pony, 
frightened  into  momentary  activity,  spun  round  and  tossed 


The  Lordly  Buffalo.  263 

up  his  head ;  I  was  holding  the  rifle  in  both  hands,  and 
the  pony's  head,  striking  it,  knocked  it  violently  against 
my  forehead,  cutting  quite  a  gash,  from  which,  heated  as 
I  was,  the  blood  poured  into  my  eyes.  Meanwhile  the 
buffalo,  passing  me,  charged  my  companion,  and  followed 
him  as  he  made  off,  and,  as  the  ground  was  very  bad,  for 
some  little  distance  his  lowered  head  was  unpleasantly 
near  the  tired  pony's  tail.  I  tried  to  run  in  on  him  again, 
but  my  pony  stopped  short,  dead  beat ;  and  by  no  spur- 
ring could  I  force  him  out  of  a  slow  trot.  My  companion 
jumped  off  and  took  a  couple  of  shots  at  the  buffalo, 
which  missed  in  the  dim  moonlight ;  and  to  our  unutter- 
able chagrin  the  wounded  bull  labored  off  and  vanished  in 
the  darkness.  I  made  after  him  on  foot,  in  hopeless  and 
helpless  wrath,  until  he  got  out  of  sight. 

Our  horses  were  completely  done  out ;  we  did  not 
mount  them  again,  but  led  them  slowly  along,  trembling, 
foaming,  and  sweating.  The  ground  was  moist  in  places, 
and  after  an  hour's  search  we  found  in  a  reedy  hollow  a 
little  mud-pool,  with  water  so  slimy  that  it  was  almost 
gelatinous.  Thirsty  though  we  were,  for  we  had  not 
drunk  for  twelve  hours,  neither  man  nor  horse  could 
swallow  more  than  a  mouthful  or  two  of  this  water.  We 
unsaddled  the  horses,  and  made  our  beds  by  the  hollow, 
each  eating  a  biscuit ;  there  was  not  a  twig  with  which  to 
make  a  fire,  nor  any  thing  to  which  we  might  fasten  the 
horses.  Spreading  the  saddle-blankets  under  us,  and  our 
own  over  us,  we  lay  down,  with  the  saddles  as  pillows,  to 
which  we  had  been  obliged  to  lariat  our  steeds. 

The  ponies  stood  about  almost  too  tired  to  eat ;  but  in 


264  The  Lordly  Buffalo. 

spite  of  their  fatigue  they  were  very  watchful  and  restless, 
continually  snorting  or  standing  with  their  ears  forward, 
peering  out  into  the  night ;  wild  beasts,  or  some  such 
things,  were  about.  The  day  before  we  had  had  a  false 
alarm  from  supposed  hostile  Indians,  who  turned  out  to 
be  merely  half-breed  Crees  ;  and,  as  we  were  in  a  perfectly 
lonely  part  of  the  wilderness,  we  knew  we  were  in  the 
domain  of  both  white  and  red  horse-thieves,  and  that  the 
latter  might  in  addition  to  our  horses  try  to  take  our 
scalps.  It  was  some  time  before  we  dozed  off;  waking 
up  with  a  start  whenever  we  heard  the  horses  stop 
grazing  and  stand  motionless  with  heads  raised,  looking 
out  into  the  darkness.  But  at  last,  tired  out,  we  fell 
sound  asleep. 

About  midnight  we  were  rudely  wakened  by  having 
our  pillows  whipped  out  from  under  our  heads ;  and  as 
we  started  from  the  bed  we  saw,  in  the  bright  moonlight, 
the  horses  galloping  madly  off  with  the  saddles,  tied  to 
the  lariats  whose  other  ends  were  round  their  necks, 
bounding  and  trailing  after  them.  Our  first  thought  was 
that  they  had  been  stampeded  by  horse-thieves,  and  we 
rolled  over  and  crouched  down  in  the  grass  with  our 
rifles ;  but  nothing  could  be  seen,  except  a  shadowy  four- 
footed  form  in  the  hollow,  and  in  the  end  we  found  that 
the  horses  must  have  taken  alarm  at  a  wolf  or  wolves  that 
had  come  up  to  the  edge  of  the  bank  and  looked  over  at 
us,  not  being  able  at  first  to  make  out  what  we  were. 

We  did  not  expect  to  find  the  horses  again  that  night, 
but  nevertheless  took  up  the  broad  trail  made  by  the 
saddles  as  they  dragged  through  the  dewy  grass,  and  fol- 


The  Lordly  Buffalo.  265 

lowed  it  well  in  the  moonlight.  Our  task  proved  easier 
than  we  had  feared  ;  for  they  had  not  run  much  over  half 
a  mile,  and  we  found  them  standing  close  together  and 
looking  intently  round  when  we  came  up.  Leading  them 
back  we  again  went  to  sleep  ;  but  the  weather  was  rapidly 
changing,  and  by  three  o'clock  a  fine  rain  began  to  come 
steadily  down,  and  we  cowered  and  shivered  under  our 
wet  blankets  till  morning.  At  the  first  streak  of  dawn, 
having  again  eaten  a  couple  of  biscuits,  we  were  off,  glad 
to  bid  good-bye  to  the  inhospitable  pool,  in  whose  neigh- 
borhood we  had  spent  such  a  comfortless  night.  A  fine, 
drizzling  mist  shrouded  us  and  hid  from  sight  all  distant 
objects  ;  and  at  times  there  were  heavy  downpours  of 
rain.  Before  we  had  gone  any  distance  we  became  what 
is  termed  by  backwoodsmen  or  plainsmen,  "  turned  round," 
and  the  creeks  suddenly  seemed  to  be  running  the  wrong 
way ;  after  which  we  travelled  purely  by  the  compass. 

For  some  hours  we  kept  a  nearly  straight  course  over 
the  formless,  shapeless  plain,  drenched  through,  and 
thoroughly  uncomfortable  ;  then  as  we  rose  over  a  low 
divide  the  fog  lifted  for  a  few  minutes,  and  we  saw  several 
black  objects  slowly  crossing  some  rolling  country  ahead 
of  us,  and  a  glance  satisfied  us  they  were  buffalo.  The 
horses  were  picketed  at  once,  and  we  ran  up  as  near  the 
game  as  we  dared,  and  then  began  to  stalk  them,  creeping 
forward  on  our  hands  and  knees  through  the  soft,  muddy 
prairie  soil,  while  a  smart  shower  of  rain  blew  in  our  faces, 
as  we  advanced  up  wind.  The  country  was  favorable, 
and  we  got  within  less  than  a  hundred  yards  of  the  near- 
est, a  large  cow,  though  we  had  to  creep  along  so  slowly 


266  The  Lordly  Buffalo. 

that  we  were  chilled  through,  and  our  teeth  chattered  be- 
hind our  blue  lips.  To  crown  my  misfortunes,  I  now 
made  one  of  those  misses  which  a  man  to  his  dying  day 
always  looks  back  upon  with  wonder  and  regret.  The 
rain  was  beating  in  my  eyes,  and  the  drops  stood  out  in 
the  sights  of  the  rifle  so  that  I  could  hardly  draw  a  bead  ; 
and  I  either  overshot  or  else  at  the  last  moment  must  have 
given  a  nervous  jerk  and  pulled  the  rifle  clear  off  the  mark. 
At  any  rate  I  missed  clean,  and  the  whole  band  plunged 
down  into  a  hollow  and  were  off  before,  with  my  stiffened 
and  numbed  fingers,  I  could  get  another  shot ;  and  in  wet, 
sullen  misery  we  plodded  back  to  the  ponies. 

All  that  day  the  rain  continued,  and  we  passed  another 
wretched  night.  Next  morning,  however,  it  had  cleared 
off,  and  as  the  sun  rose  brightly  we  forgot  our  hunger  and 
sleepiness,  and  rode  cheerily  off  up  a  large  dry  creek,  in 
whose  bottom  pools  of  rain-water  still  stood.  During  the 
morning,  however,  our  ill-luck  continued.  My  com- 
panion's horse  almost  trod  on  a  rattlesnake,  and  narrowly 
escaped  being  bitten.  While  riding  along  the  face  of  a 
steeply-inclined  bluff  the  sandy  soil  broke  away  under  the 
ponies'  hoofs,  and  we  slid  and  rolled  down  to  the  bottom, 
where  we  came  to  in  a  heap,  horses  and  men.  Then 
while  galloping  through  a  brush-covered  bottom  my  pony 
put  both  forefeet  in  a  hole  made  by  the  falling  and  uproot- 
ing of  a  tree,  and  turned  a  complete  somersault,  pitching 
me  a  good  ten  feet  beyond  his  head.  And  finally,  while 
crossing  what  looked  like  the  hard  bed  of  a  dry  creek,  the 
earth  gave  way  under  my  horse  as  if  he  had  stepped  on  a 
trap-door,  and  let  him  down  to  his  withers  in  soft,  sticky 


The  Lordly  Buffalo.  267 

mud.  I  was  off  at  once  and  floundered  to  the  bank, 
loosening  the  lariat  from  the  saddle-bow  ;  and  both  of  us 
turning  to  with  a  will,  and  bringing  the  other  pony  in  to 
our  aid,  hauled  him  out  by  the  rope,  pretty  nearly  stran- 
gling him  in  so  doing  ;  and  he  looked  rather  a  melancholy 
object  as  he  stood  up,  trembling  and  shaking,  and  plas- 
tered with  mire  from  head  to  tail. 

So  far  the  trip  had  certainly  not  been  a  success,  al- 
though sufficiently  varied  as  regards  its  incidents  ;  we  had 
been  confined  to  moist  biscuits  for  three  days  as  our  food  ; 
had  been  wet  and  cold  at  night,  and  sunburned  till  our 
faces  peeled  in  the  day  ;  were  hungry  and  tired,  and  had 
met  with  bad  weather,  and  all  kinds  of  accidents  ;  in  ad- 
dition to  which  I  had  shot  badly.  But  a  man  who  is  fond 
of  sport,  and  yet  is  not  naturally  a  good  hunter,  soon 
learns  that  if  he  wishes  any  success  at  all  he  must  both 
keep  in  memory  and  put  in  practice  Anthony  Trollope's 
famous  precept  :  "  It 's  dogged  as  does  it."  And  if  he 
keeps  doggedly  on  in  his  course  the  odds  are  heavy  that 
in  the  end  the  longest  lane  will  prove  to  have  a  turning. 
Such  was  the  case  on  this  occasion. 

Shortly  after  mid-day  we  left  the  creek  bottom,  and 
skirted  a  ridge  of  broken  buttes,  cut  up  by  gullies  and 
winding  ravines,  in  whose  bottoms  grew  bunch  grass. 
While  passing  near  the  mouth,  and  to  leeward  of  one 
of  these  ravines,  both  ponies  threw  up  their  heads,  and 
snuffed  the  air,  turning  their  muzzles  towards  the  head 
of  the  gully.  Feeling  sure  that  they  had  smelt  some 
wild  beast,  either  a  bear  or  a  buffalo,  I  slipped  off  my 
pony,  and  ran  quickly  but  cautiously  up  along  the  valley. 


268  The  Lordly  Buffalo. 

Before  I  had  gone  a  hundred  yards,  I  noticed  in  the 
soft  soil  at  the  bottom  the  round  prints  of  a  bison's 
hoofs ;  and  immediately  afterwards  got  a  glimpse  of 
the  animal  himself,  as  he  fed  slowly  up  the  course  of 
the  ravine,  some  distance  ahead  of  me.  The  wind  was 
just  right,  and  no  ground  could  have  been  better  for 
stalking.  Hardly  needing  to  bend  down,  I  walked  up 
behind  a  small  sharp-crested  hillock,  and  peeping  over, 
there  below  me,  not  fifty  yards  off,  was  a  great  bison  bull. 
He  was  walking  along,  grazing  as  he  walked.  His  glossy 
fall  coat  was  in  fine  trim,  and  shone  in  the  rays  of  the 
sun  ;  while  his  pride  of  bearing  showed  him  to  be  in 
the  lusty  vigor  of  his  prime.  As  I  rose  above  the  crest 
of  the  hill,  he  held  up  his  head  and  cocked  his  tail  in 
the  air.  Before  he  could  go  off,  I  put  the  bullet  in  be- 
hind his  shoulder.  The  wound  was  an  almost  immedi- 
ately fatal  one,  yet  with  surprising  agility  for  so  large 
and  heavy  an  animal,  he  bounded  up  the  opposite  side 
of  the  ravine,  heedless  of  two  more  balls,  both  of  which 
went  into  his  flank  and  ranged  forwards,  and  disappeared 
over  the  ridge  at  a  lumbering  gallop,  the  blood  pouring 
from  his  mouth  and  nostrils.  We  knew  he  could  not 
go  far,  and  trotted  leisurely  along  on  his  bloody  trail ; 
and  in  the  next  gully  we  found  him  stark  dead,  lying 
almost  on  his  back,  having  pitched  over  the  side  when 
he  tried  to  go  down  it.  His  head  was  a  remarkably 
fine  one,  even  for  a  fall  buffalo.  He  was  lying  in  a  very 
bad  position,  and  it  was  most  tedious  and  tiresome  work 
to  cut  it  off  and  pack  it  out.  The  flesh  of  a  cow  or 
calf  is  better  eating  than  is  that  of  a  bull ;  but  the  so- 


The  Lordly  Buffalo.  269 

called  hump  meat — that  is,  the  strip  of  steak  on  each 
side  of  the  backbone — is  excellent,  and  tender  and  juicy. 
Buffalo  meat  is  with  difficulty  to  be  distinguished  from 
ordinary  beef.  At  any  rate,  the  flesh  of  this  bull  tasted 
uncommonly  good  to  us,  for  we  had  been  without  fresh 
meat  for  a  week ;  and  until  a  healthy,  active  man  has 
been  without  it  for  some  little  time,  he  does  not  know 
how  positively  and  almost  painfully  hungry  for  flesh  he 
becomes,  no  matter  how  much  farinaceous  food  he  may 
have.  And  the  very  toil  I  had  been  obliged  to  go 
through,  in  order  to  procure  the  head,  made  me  feel 
all  the  prouder  of  it  when  it  was  at  last  in  my  posses- 
sion. 

A  year  later  I  made  another  trip,  this  time  with  a 
wagon,  through  what  had  once  been  a  famous  buffalo 
range,  the  divide  between  the  Little  Missouri  and  the 
Powder,  at  its  northern  end,  where  some  of  the  creeks 
flowing  into  the  Yellowstone  also  head  up  ;  but  though  in 
most  places  throughout  the  range  the  grass  had  not  yet 
grown  from  the  time  a  few  months  before  when  it  had 
been  cropped  off  down  close  to  the  roots  by  the  grazing 
herds,  and  though  the  ground  was  cut  up  in  all  directions 
by  buffalo  trails,  and  covered  by  their  innumerable  skulls 
and  skeletons,  not  a  living  one  did  we  see,  and  only  one 
moderately  fresh  track,  which  we  followed  until  we  lost 
it.  Some  of  the  sharper  ridges  were  of  soft,  crumbling 
sand-stone,  and  when  a  buffalo  trail  crossed  such  a  one, 
it  generally  made  a  curious,  heart-shaped  cut,  the  feet 
of  the  animals  sinking  the  narrow  path  continually  deeper 
and  deeper,  while  their  bodies  brushed  out  the  sides. 


The  Lordly  Buffalo. 

The  profile  of  a  ridge  across  which  several  trails  led 
had  rather  a  curious  look  when  seen  against  the  sky. 

Game  was  scarce  on  this  broken  plains  country,  where 
the  water  supply  was  very  scanty,  and  where  the  dull 
brown  grass  that  grew  on  the  parched,  sun-cracked  ground 
had  been  already  cropped  close ;  still  we  found  enough  to 
keep  us  in  fresh  meat ;  and  though  no  buffalo  were  seen, 
the  trip  was  a  pleasant  one.  There  was  a  certain  charm 
in  the  very  vastness  and  the  lonely,  melancholy  desolation 
of  the  land  over  which  every  day  we  galloped  far  and 
wide  from  dawn  till  nightfall ;  while  the  heavy  canvas- 
covered  wagon  lumbered  slowly  along  to  the  appointed 
halting-place.  On  such  a  trip  one  soon  gets  to  feel  that 
the  wagon  is  home  ;  and  after  a  tiresome  day  it  is  pleasant 
just  to  lie  still  in  the  twilight  by  the  side  of  the  smoulder- 
ing fire  and  watch  the  men  as  they  busy  themselves 
cooking  or  arranging  the  beds,  while  the  solemn  old 
ponies  graze  around  or  stand  quietly  by  the  great  white- 
topped  prairie  schooner. 

The  blankets  and  rubbers  being  arranged  in  a  carefully 
chosen  spot  to  leeward  of  the  wagon,  we  were  not  often 
bothered  at  night,  even  by  quite  heavy  rainfalls  ;  but  once 
or  twice,  when  in  peculiarly  exposed  places,  we  were 
struck  by  such  furious  gusts  of  wind  and  rain  that  we 
were  forced  to  gather  up  our  bedding  and  hastily  scramble 
into  the  wagon,  where  we  would  at  least  be  dry,  even 
though  in  pretty  cramped  quarters. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


STILL-HUNTING  ELK  ON  THE  MOUNTAINS. 


FTER  the  buffalo  the  elk  are 
the  first  animals  to  disappear 
from  a  country  when  it  is 
settled.  This  arises  from  their 
size  and  consequent  conspicuous- 
ness,  and  the  eagerness  with 
which  they  are  followed  by  hunt- 
ers ;  and  also  because  of  their 
gregariousness  and  their  occa- 
sional fits  of  stupid  panic  during  whose  continuance 
hunters  can  now  and  then  work  great  slaughter  in  a 
herd.  Five  years  ago  elk  were  abundant  in  the  val- 
ley of  the  Little  Missouri,  and  in  fall  were  found 
wandering  in  great  bands  of  over  a  hundred  individuals 
each.  But  they  have  now  vanished  completely,  ex- 
cept that  one  or  two  may  still  lurk  in  some  of  the  most 
remote  and  broken  places,  where  there  are  deep,  wooded 
ravines. 

Formerly  the  elk  were  plentiful  all   over  the  plains, 

271 


2  72  Still-Hunting  Elk. 

coming  down  into  them  in  great  bands  during  the  fall 
months  and  traversing  their  entire  extent.  But  the  in- 
coming of  hunters  and  cattle-men  has  driven  them  off  the 
ground  as  completely  as  the  buffalo  ;  unlike  the  latter, 
however,  they  are  still  very  common  in  the  dense  woods 
that  cover  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  other  great 
western  chains.  In  the  old  days  running  elk  on  horse- 
back was  a  highly  esteemed  form  of  plains  sport ;  but 
now  that  it  has  become  a  beast  of  the  timber  and  the 
craggy  ground,  instead  of  a  beast  of  the  open,  level 
prairie,  it  is  followed  almost  solely  on  foot  and  with  the 
rifle.  Its  sense  of  smell  is  very  acute,  and  it  has  good 
eyes  and  quick  ears ;  and  its  wariness  makes  it  under 
ordinary  circumstances  very  difficult  to  approach.  But  it 
is  subject  to  fits  of  panic  folly,  and  during  their  continu- 
ance great  numbers  can  be  destroyed.  A  band  places 
almost  as  much  reliance  upon  the  leaders  as  does  a  flock 
of  sheep ;  and  if  the  leaders  are  shot  down,  the  others 
will  huddle  together  in  a  terrified  mass,  seemingly  unable 
to  make  up  their  minds  in  which  direction  to  flee.  When 
one,  more  bold  than  the  rest,  does  at  last  step  out,  the 
hidden  hunter's  at  once  shooting  it  down  will  produce  a 
fresh  panic ;  I  have  known  of  twenty  elk  (or  wapiti,  as 
they  are  occasionally  called)  being  thus  procured  out  of 
one  band.  And  at  times  they  show  a  curious  indifference 
to  danger,  running  up  on  a  hunter  who  is  in  plain  sight, 
or  standing  still  for  a  few  fatal  seconds  to  gaze  at  one 
that  unexpectedly  appears. 

In  spite  of  its  size  and  strength  and  great  branching 
antlers,  the  elk  is  but  little  more  dangerous  to  the  hunter 


Still-Hunting  Elk. 

than  is  an  ordinary  buck.  Once,  in  coming  up  to  a 
wounded  one,  I  had  it  strike  at  me  with  its  forefeet, 
bristling  up  the  hair  on  the  neck,  and  making  a  harsh, 
grating  noise  with  its  teeth ;  as  its  back  was  broken  it 
could  not  get  at  me,  but  the  savage  glare  in  its  eyes  left 
me  no  doubt  as  to  its  intentions.  Only  in  a  single  in- 
stance have  I  ever  known  of  a  hunter  being  regularly 
charged  by  one  of  these  great  deer.  He  had  struck  a 
band  of  elk  and  wounded  an  old  bull,  which,  after  going 
a  couple  of  miles,  received  another  ball  and  then  sepa- 
rated from  the  rest  of  the  herd  and  took  refuge  in  a  dense 
patch  of  small  timber.  The  hunter  went  in  on  its  trail 
and  came  upon  it  lying  down  ;  it  jumped  to  its  feet  and, 
with  hair  all  bristling,  made  a  regular  charge  upon  its 
pursuer,  who  leaped  out  of  the  way  behind  a  tree  just  in 
time  to  avoid  it.  It  crashed  past  through  the  under- 
growth without  turning,  and  he  killed  it  with  a  third  and 
last  shot.  But  this  was  a  very  exceptional  case,  and  in 
most  instances  the  elk  submits  to  death  with  hardly  an 
effort  at  resistance ;  it  is  by  no  means  as  dangerous  an 
antagonist  as  is  a  bull  moose. 

The  elk  is  unfortunately  one  of  those  animals  seem- 
ingly doomed  to  total  destruction  at  no  distant  date.  Al- 
ready its  range  has  shrunk  to  far  less  than  one  half  its 
former  size.  Originally  it  was  found  as  far  as  the  Atlan- 
tic sea-board  ;  I  have  myself  known  of  several  sets  of 
antlers  preserved  in  the  house  of  a  Long  Island  gentle- 
man, whose  ancestors  had  killed  the  bearers  shortly  after 
the  first  settlement  of  New  York.  Even  so  late  as  the 
first  years  of  this  century  elk  were  found  in  many  moun- 


274  Still-Hunting  Elk. 

tainous  and  densely  wooded  places  east  of  the  Mississippi  -, 
in  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennes- 
see, and  all  of  what  were  then  the  Northwestern  States 
and  Territories.  The  last  individual  of  the  race  was 
killed  in  the  Adirondacks  in  1834  ;  in  Pennsylvania  not 
till  nearly  thirty  years  later  ;  while  a  very  few  are  still  to 
be  found  in  Northern  Michigan.  Elsewhere  they  must 
now  be  sought  far  to  the  west  of  the  Mississippi ;  and 
even  there  they  are  almost  gone  from  the  great  plains, 
and  are  only  numerous  in  the  deep  mountain  forests. 
Wherever  it  exists  the  skin  hunters  and  meat  butchers 
wage  the  most  relentless  and  unceasing  war  upon  it  for 
the  sake  of  its  hide  and  flesh,  and  their  unremitting  perse- 
cution is  thinning  out  the  herds  with  terrible  rapidity. 

The  gradual  extermination  of  this,  the  most  stately 
and  beautiful  animal  of  the  chase  to  be  found  in  America, 
can  be  looked  upon  only  with  unmixed  regret  by  every 
sportsman  and  lover  of  nature.  Excepting  the  moose,  it 
is  the  largest  and,  without  exception,  it  is  the  noblest  of 
the  deer  tribe.  No  other  species  of  true  deer,  in  either 
the  Old  or  the  New  World,  comes  up  to  it  in  size  and  in 
the  shape,  length,  and  weight  of  its  mighty  antlers  ;  while 
the  grand,  proud  carriage  and  lordly  bearing  of  an  old 
bull  make  it  perhaps  the  most  majestic-looking  of  all  the 
animal  creation.  The  open  plains  have  already  lost  one 
of  their  great  attractions,  now  that  we  no  more  see  the 
long  lines  of  elk  trotting  across  them  ;  and  it  will  be  a 
sad  day  when  the  lordly,  antlered  beasts  are  no  longer 
found  in  the  wild  rocky  glens  and  among  the  lonely 
woods  of  towering  pines  that  cover  the  great  western 
mountain  chains. 


Still-Hunting  Elk.  275 

The  elk  has  other  foes  besides  man.  The  grizzly  will 
always  make  a  meal  of  one  if  he  gets  a  chance  ;  and 
against  his  ponderous  weight  and  savage  prowess  hoofs 
and  antlers  avail  but  little.  Still  he  is  too  clumsy  and 
easily  avoided  ever  to  do  very  much  damage  in  the 
herds.  Cougars,  where  they  exist,  work  more  havoc.  A 
bull  elk  in  rutting  season,  if  on  his  guard,  would  with  ease 
beat  off  a  cougar ;  but  the  sly,  cunning  cat  takes  its 
quarry  unawares,  and  once  the  cruel  fangs  are  fastened  in 
the  game's  throat  or  neck,  no  plunging  or  struggling  can 
shake  it  off.  The  gray  timber  wolves  also  join  in  twos 
and  threes  to  hunt  down  and  hamstring  the  elk,  if  other 
game  is  scarce.  But  these  great  deer  can  hold  their  own 
and  make  head  against  all  their  brute  foes  ;  it  is  only 
when  pitted  against  Man  the  Destroyer,  that  they  suc- 
cumb in  the  struggle  for  life. 

I  have  never  shot  any  elk  in  the  immediate  neighbor- 
hood of  where  my  cattle  range  ;  but  I  have  had  very 
good  sport  with  them  in  a  still  wilder  and  more  western 
region  ;  and  this  I  will  now  describe. 

During  last  summer  we  found  it  necessary  to  leave  my 
ranch  on  the  Little  Missouri  and  take  quite  a  long  trip 
through  the  cattle  country  of  Southeastern  Montana  and 
Northern  Wyoming  ;  and,  having  come  to  the  foot  of  the 
Bighorn  Mountains,  we  took  a  fortnight's  hunt  through 
them  after  elk  and  bear. 

We  went  into  the  mountains  with  a  pack  train,  leaving 
the  ranch  wagon  at  the  place  where  we  began  to  go  up  the 
first  steep  rise.  There  were  two  others,  besides  myself,  in 
the  party  ;  one  of  them,  the  teamster,  a  weather-beaten 


276  Still-Hunting  Elk. 

old  plainsman,  who  possessed  a  most  extraordinary  stock 
of  miscellaneous  misinformation  upon  every  conceivable 
subject,  and  the  other  my  ranch  foreman,  Merrifield.  None 
of  us  had  ever  been  within  two  hundred  miles  of  the  Big- 
horn range  before  ;  so  that  our  hunting  trip  had  the  added 
zest  of  being  also  an  exploring  expedition. 

Each  of  us  rode  one  pony,  and  the  packs  were  carried 
on  four  others.  We  were  not  burdened  by  much  baggage. 
Having  no  tent  we  took  the  canvas  wagon  sheet  instead  ; 
our  bedding,  plenty  of  spare  cartridges,  some  flour,  bacon, 
coffee,  sugar  and  salt,  and  a  few  very  primitive  cooking 
utensils,  completed  the  outfit. 

The  Bighorn  range  is  a  chain  of  bare,  rocky  peaks 
stretching  lengthwise  along  the  middle  of  a  table-land 
which  is  about  thirty  miles  wide.  At  its  edges  this  table- 
land falls  sheer  off  into  the  rolling  plains  country.  From 
the  rocky  peaks  flow  rapid  brooks  of  clear,  icy  water, 
which  take  their  way  through  deep  gorges  that  they  have 
channelled  out  in  the  surface  of  the  plateau  ;  a  few  miles 
from  the  heads  of  the  streams  these  gorges  become  regular 
canyons,  with  sides  so  steep  as  to  be  almost  perpendicu- 
lar ;  in  travelling,  therefore,  the  trail  has  to  keep  well  up 
toward  timber  line,  as  lower  down  horses  find  it  difficult 
or  impossible  to  get  across  the  valleys.  In  strong  contrast 
to  the  treeless  cattle  plains  extending  to  its  foot,  the  sides 
of  the  table-land  are  densely  wooded  with  tall  pines.  Its 
top  forms  what  is  called  a  park  country ;  that  is,  it  is 
covered  with  alternating  groves  of  trees  and  open  glades, 
each  grove  or  glade  varying  in  size  from  half  a  dozen  to 
many  hundred  acres. 


Still-Hunting  Elk.  277 

We  went  in  with  the  pack  train  two  days'  journey 
before  pitching  camp  in  what  we  intended  to  be  our 
hunting  grounds,  following  an  old  Indian  trail.  No  one 
who  has  not  tried  it  can  understand  the  work  and  worry  that 
it  is  to  drive  a  pack  train  over  rough  ground  and  through 
timber.  We  were  none  of  us  very  skilful  at  packing,  and 
the  loads  were  all  the  time  slipping  ;  sometimes  the  ponies 
would  stampede  with  the  pack  half  tied,  or  they  would 
get  caught  among  the  fallen  logs,  or  in  a  ticklish  place 
would  suddenly  decline  to  follow  the  trail,  or  would  com- 
mit some  one  of  the  thousand  other  tricks  which  seem  to 
be  all  a  pack-pony  knows.  Then  at  night  they  were  a 
bother ;  if  picketed  out  they  fed  badly  and  got  thin,  and 
if  they  were  not  picketed  they  sometimes  strayed  away. 
The  most  valuable  one  of  the  lot  was  also  the  hardest  to 
catch.  Accordingly  we  used  to  let  him  loose  with  a  long 
lariat  tied  round  his  neck,  and  one  night  this  lariat  twisted 
up  in  a  sage-brush,  and  in  struggling  to  free  himself  the 
pony  got  a  half  hitch  round  h;s  hind  leg,  threw  himself, 
and  fell  over  a  bank  into  a  creek  on  a  large  stone.  We 
found  him  in  the  morning  very  much  the  worse  for  wear, 
and  his  hind  legs  swelled  up  so  that  his  chief  method  of 
progression  was  by  a  series  of  awkward  hops.  Of  course 
no  load  could  be  put  upon  him,  but  he  managed  to  limp 
along  behind  the  other  horses,  and  actually  in  the  end 
reached  the  ranch  on  the  Little  Missouri  three  hundred 
miles  off.  No  sooner  had  he  got  there  and  been  turned 
loose  to  rest  than  he  fell  down  a  big  wash-out  and  broke 
his  neck.  Another  time  one  of  the  mares — a  homely  beast 
with  a  head  like  a  camel's — managed  to  flounder  into  the 


278  Still-Hunting  Elk. 

very  centre  of  a  mud-hole,  and  we  spent  the  better  part  of 
a  morning  in  fishing  her  out. 

It  was  on  the  second  day  of  our  journey  into  the 
mountains,  while  leading  the  pack-ponies  down  the  precipi- 
tous side  of  a  steep  valley,  that  I  obtained  my  first  sight 
of  elk.  The  trail  wound  through  a  forest  of  tall,  slender 
pines,  standing  very  close  together,  and  with  dead  trees 
lying  in  every  direction.  The  narrow  trunks  or  overhang- 
ing limbs  threatened  to  scrape  off  the  packs  at  every 
moment,  as  the  ponies  hopped  and  scrambled  over  the 
fallen  trunks ;  and  it  was  difficult  work,  and  most  trying 
to  the  temper,  to  keep  them  going  along  straight  and 
prevent  them  from  wandering  off  to  one  side  or  the  other. 
At  last  we  got  out  into  a  succession  of  small,  open  glades, 
with  boggy  spots  in  them  ;  the  lowest  glade  was  of  some 
size,  and  as  we  reached  it  we  saw  a  small  band  of  cow  elk 
disappearing  into  the  woods  on  its  other  edge.  I  was 
riding  a  restive  horse,  and  when  I  tried  to  jump  off  to 
shoot,  it  reared  and  turned  round,  before  I  could  get  my 
left  foot  out  of  the  stirrup  ;  when  I  at  last  got  free  I 
could  get  a  glimpse  of  but  one  elk,  vanishing  behind  a 
dead  trunk,  and  my  hasty  shot  missed.  I  was  a  good 
deal  annoyed  at  this,  my  opening  experience  with  mountain 
game,  feeling  that  it  was  an  omen  of  misfortune  ;  but 
it  did  not  prove  so,  for  during  the  rest  of  my  two  weeks' 
stay,  I  with  one  exception  got  every  animal  I  fired  at. 

A  beautiful,  clear  mountain  brook  ran  through  the 
bottom  of  the  valley,  and  in  an  open  space  by  its  side 
we  pitched  camp.  We  were  entirely  out  of  fresh  meat, 
and  after  lunch  all  three  of  us  separated  to  hunt,  each  for 


Still-Hunting  Elk.  279 

his  own  hand.  The  teamster  went  up  stream,  Merrifield 
went  down,  while  I  followed  the  tracks  of  the  band  of 
cows  and  calves  that  we  had  started  in  the  morning  ;  their 
trail  led  along  the  wooded  hill-crests  parallel  to  the  stream, 
and  therefore  to  Merrifield's  course.  The  crests  of  the 
hills  formed  a  wavy-topped  but  continuous  ridge  between 
two  canyon-like  valleys,  and  the  sides  fell  off  steeper  and 
steeper  the  farther  down  stream  I  went,  until  at  last  they 
were  broken  in  places  by  sheer  precipices  and  cliffs  ;  the 
groves  of  trees  too,  though  with  here  and  there  open 
glades,  formed  a  continuous  forest  of  tall  pines.  There 
was  a  small  growth  of  young  spruce  and  other  ever- 
green, thick  enough  to  give  cover,  but  not  to  interfere 
with  seeing  and  shooting  to  some  distance.  The  pine 
trunks  rose  like  straight  columns,  standing  quite  close 
together ;  and  at  their  bases  the  ground  was  carpeted 
with  the  sweet-scented  needles,  over  which,  in  my 
moccasined  feet,  I  trod  without  any  noise.  It  was 
but  a  little  past  noon,  and  the  sun  in  the  open  was 
very  hot ;  yet  underneath  the  great  archways  of  the 
pine  woods  the  air  though  still  was  cool,  and  the 
sunbeams  that  struggled  down  here  and  there  through  the 
interlacing  branches,  and  glinted  on  the  rough  trunks,  only 
made  bright  spots  in  what  was  elsewhere  the  uniform, 
grayish  half-light  of  the  mountain  forest.  Game  trails 
threaded  the  woods  in  all  directions,  made  for  the  most  part 
by  the  elk.  These  animals,  when  not  disturbed,  travel 
strung  out  in  single  file,  each  one  stepping  very  nearly  in 
the  tracks  of  the  one  before  it ;  they  are  great  wanderers, 
going  over  an  immense  amount  of  country  during  the 


280  Still-Hunting  Elk. 

course  of  a  day,  and  so  they  soon  wear  regular,  well- 
beaten  paths  in  any  place  where  they  are  at  all  plentiful. 

The  band  I  was  following  had,  as  is  their  custom,  all 
run  together  into  a  wedge-shaped  mass  when  I  fired,  and 
crashed  off  through  the  woods  in  a  bunch  during  the  first 
moments  of  alarm.  The  footprints  in  the  soil  showed 
that  they  had  in  the  beginning  taken  a  plunging  gallop, 
but  after  a  few  strides  had  settled  into  the  swinging, 
ground-covering  trot  that  is  the  elk's  most  natural  and 
characteristic  gait.  A  band  of  elk  when  alarmed  is  likely 
to  go  twenty  miles  without  halting  ;  but  these  had  prob- 
ably been  very  little  molested,  and  there  was  a  chance 
that  they  would  not  go  far  without  stopping.  After 
getting  through  the  first  grove,  the  huddled  herd  had 
straightened  itself  out  into  single  file,  and  trotted  off  in  a 
nearly  straight  line.  A  mile  or  two  of  ground  having 
been  passed  over  in  this  way,  the  animals  had  slackened 
their  pace  into  a  walk,  evidently  making  up  their  minds 
that  they  were  out  of  danger.  Soon  afterwards  they  had 
begun  to  go  slower,  and  to  scatter  out  on  each  side, 
browsing  or  grazing. 

It  was  not  difficult  work  to  follow  up  the  band  at 
first.  While  trotting,  their  sharp  hoofs  came  down  with 
sufficient  force  to  leave  very  distinct  footprints,  and, 
moreover,  the  trail  was  the  more  readily  made  out  as 
all  the  animals  trod  nearly  in  each  other's  steps.  But 
when  the  band  spread  out  the  tracking  was  much 
harder,  as  each  single  one,  walking  slowly  along, 
merely  made  here  and  there  a  slight  scrape  in  the 
soil  or  a  faint  indentation  in  the  bed  of  pine  needles. 


Still-Hunting  Elk.  281 

Besides,  I  had  to  advance  with  the  greatest  caution, 
keeping  the  sharpest  look-out  in  front  and  on  all  sides 
of  me.  Even  as  it  was,  though  I  got  very  close  up  to 
my  game,  they  were  on  foot  before  I  saw  them,  and  I 
did  not  get  a  standing  shot.  While  carefully  looking  to 
my  footsteps  I  paid  too  little  heed  to  the  rifle  which  I 
held  in  my  right  hand,  and  let  the  barrel  tap  smartly  on  a 
tree  trunk.  Instantly  there  was  a  stamp  and  movement 
among  the  bushes  ahead  and  to  one  side  of  me  ;  the  elk 
had  heard  but  had  neither  seen  nor  smelt  me ;  and  a 
second  afterward  I  saw  the  indistinct,  shadowy  outlines  of 
the  band  as  they  trotted  down  hill,  from  where  their  beds 
had  been  made  on  the  very  summit  of  the  crest,  taking  a 
course  diagonal  to  mine.  I  raced  forward  and  also  down 
hill,  behind  some  large  mossy  boulders,  and  cut  them 
fairly  off,  the  band  passing  directly  ahead  of  me  and  not 
twenty  yards  away,  at  a  slashing  trot,  which  a  few  of  them 
changed  for  a  wild  gallop,  as  I  opened  fire.  I  was  so 
hemmed  in  by  the  thick  tree  trunks,  and  it  was  so  difficult 
to  catch  more  than  a  fleeting  glimpse  of  each  animal, 
that  though  I  fired  four  shots  I  only  brought  down  one 
elk,  a  full-grown  cow,  with  a  broken  neck,  dead  in  its 
tracks ;  but  I  also  broke  the  hind  leg  of  a  bull  calf.  Elk 
offer  easy  marks  when  in  motion,  much  easier  than  deer, 
because  of  their  trotting  gait,  and  their  regular,  deliberate 
movements.  They  look  very  handsome  as  they  trot 
through  a  wood,  stepping  lightly  and  easily  over  the  dead 
trunks  and  crashing  through  the  underbrush,  with  the 
head  held  up  and  nose  pointing  forward.  In  galloping, 
however,  the  neck  is  thrust  straight  out  in  front,  and  the 


282  Still-Hunting  Elk. 

animal  moves  with  labored  bounds,  which  carry  it  along 
rapidly  but  soon  tire  it  out. 

After  thrusting  the  hunting-knife  into  the  throat  of  the 
cow,  I  followed  the  trail  of  the  band;  and  in  an  open 
glade,  filled  with  tall  sage-brush,  came  across  and  finished 
the  wounded  calf.  Meanwhile  the  others  ran  directly 
across  Merrifield's  path,  and  he  shot  two.  This  gave  us 
much  more  meat  than  we  wished  ;  nor  would  we  have  shot 
as  many,  but  neither  of  us  could  reckon  upon  the  other's 
getting  as  much  game,  and  flesh  was  a  necessity.  Leav- 
ing Merrifield  to  skin  and  cut  up  the  dead  animals,  I 
walked  back  to  camp  where  I  found  the  teamster,  who 
had  brought  in  the  hams  and  tongues  of  two  deer  he  had 
shot,  and  sent  him  back  with  a  pack-pony  for  the  hides 
and  meat  of  the  elk.  Elk  tongues  are  most  delicious 
eating,  being  juicy,  tender,  and  well  flavored ;  they  are 
excellent  to  take  out  as  a  lunch  on  a  long  hunting  trip. 

We  now  had  more  than  enough  meat  in  camp,  and 
did  not  shoot  at  another  cow  or  calf  elk  while  on  the 
mountains,  though  we  saw  quite  a  number ;  the  last  day 
of  my  stay  I  was  within  fifty  yards  of  two  that  were  walk- 
ing quietly  through  a  very  dense,  swampy  wood.  But  it 
took  me  some  time  longer  before  I  got  any  fine  heads. 

The  day  after  killing  the  cow  and  calf  I  went  out  in 
the  morning  by  myself  and  hunted  through  the  woods  up 
toward  the  rocky  peaks,  going  above  timber  line,  and  not 
reaching  camp  until  after  nightfall.  In  hunting  through 
a  wild  and  unknown  country  a  man  must  always  take 
great  care  not  to  get  lost.  In  the  first  place  he  should 
never,  under  any  conceivable  circumstances,  stir  fifty 


Still-Hunting  Elk.  283 

yards  from  camp  without  a  compass,  plenty  of  matches, 
and  his  rifle ;  then  he  need  never  feel  nervous,  even  if  he 
is  lost,  for  he  can  keep  himself  from  cold  and  hunger,  and 
can  steer  a  straight  course  until  he  reaches  some  settle- 
ment. But  he  should  not  get  lost  at  all.  Old  plainsmen 
or  backwoodsmen  get  to  have  almost  an  instinct  for  find- 
ing their  way,  and  are  able  to  tell  where  they  are  and  the 
way  home  in  almost  any  place ;  probably  they  keep  in 
their  heads  an  accurate  idea  of  their  course  and  of  the 
general  lay  of  the  land.  But  most  men  cannot  do  this. 
In  hunting  through  a  new  country  a  man  should,  if  possi- 
ble, choose  some  prominent  landmarks,  and  then  should 
learn  how  they  look  from  different  sides — for  they  will 
with  difficulty  be  recognized  as  the  same  objects,  if  seen 
from  different  points  of  view.  If  he  gets  out  of  sight  of 
these,  he  should  choose  another  to  work  back  to,  as  a 
kind  of  half-way  point ;  and  so  on.  He  should  keep 
looking  back  ;  it  is  wonderful  how  different  a  country 
looks  when  following  back  on  one's  trail.  If  possible,  he 
should  locate  his  camp,  in  his  mind,  with  reference  to  a 
Hne,  and  not  a  point ;  he  should  take  a  river  or  a  long 
ridge,  for  example.  Then  at  any  time  he  can  strike  back 
to  this  line  and  follow  it  up  or  down  till  he  gets  home. 

If  possible,  I  always  spend  the  first  day,  when  on  new 
ground,  in  hunting  up-stream.  Then,  so  long  as  I  am  sure 
I  do  not  wander  off  into  the  valleys  or  creeks  of  another 
water-course,  I  am  safe,  for,  no  matter  on  what  remote 
branch,  all  I  have  to  do  is  to  follow  down-stream  until  I 
reach  camp  ;  while  if  I  was  below  camp,  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  tell  which  fork  to  follow  up  every  time  the  stream 


284  Still-Hunting  Elk. 

branched.  A  man  should  always  notice  the  position  of 
the  sun,  the  direction  from  which  the  wind  blows,  the 
slope  of  the  water-courses,  prominent  features  in  the  land- 
scape, and  so  forth,  and  should  keep  in  mind  his  own 
general  course  ;  and  he  had  better  err  on  the  side  of  cau- 
tion rather  than  on  that  of  boldness.  Getting  lost  is  very 
uncomfortable,  both  for  the  man  himself  and  for  those  who 
have  to  break  up  their  work  and  hunt  for  him.  Deep 
woods  or  perfectly  flat,  open  country  are  almost  equally 
easy  places  in  which  to  get  lost ;  while  if  the  country  is 
moderately  open  and  level,  with  only  here  and  there  a 
prominent  and  easily  recognized  hill  or  butte,  a  man  can 
safely  go  where  he  wishes,  hardly  paying  any  heed  to  his 
course.  But  even  here  he  should  know  his  general  direc- 
tion from  camp,  so  as  to  be  able  to  steer  for  it  with  a 
compass  if  a  fog  comes  up.  And  if  he  leaves  his  horse 
hidden  in  a  gully  or  pocket  while  he  goes  off  to  hunt  on 
foot,  he  must  recollect  to  keep  the  place  well  in  his  mind ; 
on  one  occasion,  when  I  feared  that  somebody  might 
meddle  with  my  horse,  I  hid  him  so  successfully  that  I 
spent  the  better  part  of  a  day  in  finding  him. 

Keeping  in  mind  the  above  given  rules,  when  I  left 
camp  the  morning  after  the  breaking  up  of  the  band 
of  cows  and  calves,  I  hunted  up-stream,  and  across  and 
through  the  wooded  spurs  dividing  the  little  brooks  that 
formed  its  head  waters.  No  game  was  encountered, 
except  some  blue  grouse,  which  I  saw  when  near  camp 
on  my  return,  and  shot  for  the  pot.  These  blue  grouse 
are  the  largest  species  found  in  America,  except  the  sage 
fowl.  They  are  exclusively  birds  of  the  deep  mountain 


Still-Hunting  Elk. 

forests,  and  in  their  manners  remind  one  of  the  spruce 
grouse  of  the  Northeastern  woods,  being  almost 
equally  tame.  When  alarmed,  they  fly  at  once  into  a 
tree,  and  several  can  often  be  shot  before  the  remainder 
take  fright  and  are  off.  On  this  trip  we  killed  a  good 
many,  shooting  off  their  heads  with  our  rifles.  They 
formed  a  most  welcome  addition  to  our  bill  of  fare,  the 
meat  being  white  and  excellent.  A  curious  peculiarity 
in  their  flesh  is  that  the  breast  meat  has  in  it  a  layer 
of  much  darker  color.  They  are  very  handsome  birds, 
and  furnish  dainty  food  to  men  wearied  of  venison  ;  but, 
unless  their  heads  are  knocked  off  with  a  rifle,  they  do 
not  furnish  much  sport,  as  they  will  not  fly  off  when 
flushed,  but  simply  rise  into  a  fairly  tall  tree,  and  there 
sit,  motionless,  except  that  the  head  is  twisted  and 
bobbed  round  to  observe  the  acts  of  the  foe. 

All  of  the  sights  and  sounds  in  these  pine  woods 
that  clothed  the  Bighorn  Mountains  reminded  me  of 
the  similar  ones  seen  and  heard  in  the  great,  sombre 
forests  of  Maine  and  the  Adirondacks.  The  animals  and 
birds  were  much  the  same.  As  in  the  East,  there  were 
red  squirrels,  chipmunks,  red  hares,  and  woodchucks,  all 
of  them  differing  but  slightly  from  our  common  kinds ; 
woodpeckers,  chickadees,  nuthatches,  and  whiskey  jacks 
came  about  camp  ;  ravens  and  eagles  flew  over  the  rocky 
cliffs.  There  were  some  new  forms,  however.  The  nut- 
cracker, a  large,  noisy,  crow-like  bird,  with  many  of  the 
habits  of  a  woodpecker,  was  common,  and  in  the  rocks 
above  timber  line,  we  came  upon  the  Little  Chief  hare, 
a  wee  animal,  with  a  shrill,  timorous  squeak. 


286  Still-Hunting  Elk. 

During  our  stay  upon  the  mountains  the  weather 
was  generally  clear,  but  always  cold,  thin  ice  covering 
the  dark  waters  of  the  small  mountain  tarns,  and  there 
were  slight  snow-falls  every  two  or  three  days ;  but  we 
were  only  kept  in  camp  one  day,  when  it  sleeted,  snowed, 
and  rained  from  dawn  till  nightfall.  We  passed  this  day 
very  comfortably,  however.  I  had  far  too  much  fore- 
thought to  go  into  the  woods  without  a  small  supply 
of  books  for  just  such  occasions.  We  had  rigged  the 
canvas  wagon  sheet  into  a  tent,  at  the  bottom  of  the 
ravine,  near  the  willow-covered  brink  of  the  brook  that 
ran  through  it.  The  steep  hill-sides  bounding  the  valley, 
which  a  little  below  us  became  sheer  cliffs,  were  partly 
covered  with  great  pines  and  spruces,  and  partly  open 
ground  grown  up  with  tall  grass  and  sage-brush.  We 
were  thus  well  sheltered  from  the  wind ;  and  when  one 
morning  we  looked  out  and  saw  the  wet  snow  lying  on 
the  ground,  and  with  its  weight  bending  down  the  willow 
bushes  and  loading  the  tall  evergreens,  while  the  freezing 
sleet  rattled  against  the  canvas,  we  simply  started  a  roaring 
fire  of  pine  logs  in  front  of  the  tent,  and  passed  a  cosy 
day  inside,  cleaning  guns,  reading,  and  playing  cards. 
Blue  grouse,  elk  hams,  and  deer  saddles  hung  from  the 
trees  around,  so  we  had  no  fear  of  starvation.  Still, 
towards  evening  we  got  a  little  tired,  and  I  could  not 
resist  taking  a  couple  of  hours'  brisk  ride  in  the  mist, 
through  a  chain  of  open  glades  that  sloped  off  from  our 
camp. 

Later  on  we  made  a  camp  at  the  head  of  a  great 
natural  meadow,  where  two  streams  joined  together, 


Still-Hunting  Elk.  287 

and  in  times  long  gone  by  had  been  dammed  by  the 
beaver.  This  had  at  first  choked  up  the  passage  and 
made  a  small  lake ;  then  dams  were  built  higher  and 
higher  up,  making  chains  of  little  ponds.  By  degrees 
these  filled  up,  and  the  whole  valley  became  a  broad 
marshy  meadow,  through  which  the  brook  wound  between 
rows  of  willows  and  alders.  These  beaver  meadows  are 
very  common ;  but  are  not  usually  of  such  large  size. 
Around  this  camp  there  was  very  little  game  ;  but  we  got  a 
fine  mess  of  spotted  trout  by  taking  a  long  and  most  toil- 
some walk  up  to  a  little  lake  lying  very  near  timber  line. 
Our  rods  and  lines  were  most  primitive,  consisting  of  two 
clumsy  dead  cedars  (the  only  trees  within  reach),  about 
six  feet  of  string  tied  to  one  and  a  piece  of  catgut  to  the 
other,  with  preposterous  hooks ;  yet  the  trout  were  so 
ravenous  that  we  caught  them  at  the  rate  of  about  one  a 
minute  ;  and  they  formed  another  welcome  change  in  our 
camp  fare.  This  lake  lay  in  a  valley  whose  sides  were  so 
steep  and  boulder-covered  as  to  need  hard  climbing  to  get 
into  and  out  of  it.  Every  day  in  the  cold,  clear  weather 
we  tramped  miles  and  miles  through  the  woods  and 
mountains,  which,  after  a  snow-storm  took  on  a  really 
wintry  look ;  while  in  the  moonlight  the  snow-laden  for- 
ests shone  and  sparkled  like  crystal.  The  dweller  in  cities 
has  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  way  we  ate  and  slept. 

One  day  Merrifield  and  I  went  out  together  and  had  a 
rather  exciting  chase  after  some  bull  elk.  The  previous 
evening,  toward  sunset,  I  had  seen  three  bulls  trotting  off 
across  an  open  glade  toward  a  great  stretch  of  forest  and 
broken  ground,  up  near  the  foot  of  the  rocky  peaks. 


288  Still-Hunting  Elk. 

Next  morning  early  we  started  off  to  hunt  through  this 
country.  The  walking  was  hard  work,  especially  up  and 
down  the  steep  cliffs,  covered  with  slippery  pine  needles  ; 
or  among  the  windfalls,  where  the  rows  of  dead  trees  lay 
piled  up  across  one  another  in  the  wildest  confusion. 
We  saw  nothing  until  we  came  to  a  large  patch  of  burnt 
ground,  where  we  at  once  found  the  soft,  black  soil 
marked  up  by  elk  hoofs  ;  nor  had  we  penetrated  into  it 
more  than  a  few  hundred  yards  before  we  came  to  tracks 
made  but  a  few  minutes  before,  and  almost  instantly  after- 
ward saw  three  bull  elk,  probably  those  I  had  seen  on  the 
preceding  day.  We  had  been  running  briskly  up-hill 
through  the  soft,  heavy  loam,  in  which  our  feet  made  no 
noise  but  slipped  and  sank  deeply ;  as  a  consequence,  I 
was  all  out  of  breath  and  my  hand  so  unsteady  that  I 
missed  my  first  shot.  Elk,  however,  do  not  vanish  with 
the  instantaneous  rapidity  of  frightened  deer,  and  these 
three  trotted  off  in  a  direction  quartering  to  us.  I  doubt 
if  I  ever  went  through  more  violent  exertion  than  in  the 
next  ten  minutes.  We  raced  after  them  at  full  speed, 
opening  fire ;  I  wounded  all  three,  but  none  of  the 
wounds  were  immediately  disabling.  They  trotted  on 
and  we  panted  afterwards,  slipping  on  the  wet  earth, 
pitching  headlong  over  charred  stumps,  leaping  on  dead 
logs  that  broke  beneath  our  weight,  more  than  once 
measuring  our  full-length  on  the  ground,  halting  and  fir- 
ing whenever  we  got  a  chance.  At  last  one  bull  fell  ;  we 
passed  him  by  after  the  others  which  were  still  running 
up-hill.  The  sweat  streamed  into  my  eyes  and  made  fur- 
rows in  the  sooty  mud  that  covered  my  face,  from  having 


Still-Hunting  Elk.  289 

fallen  full  length  down  on  the  burnt  earth  ;  I  sobbed  for 
breath  as  I  toiled  at  a  shambling  trot  after  them,  as  nearly 
done  out  as  could  well  be.  At  this  moment  they  turned 
down-hill.  It  was  a  great  relief  ;  a  man  who  is  too  done 
up  to  go  a  step  up-hill  can  still  run  fast  enough  down  ; 
with  a  last  spurt  I  closed  in  near  enough  to  fire  again ; 
one  elk  fell  ;  the  other  went  off  at  a  walk.  We  passed 
the  second  elk  and  I  kept  on  alone  after  the  third,  not 
able  to  go  at  more  than  a  slow  trot  myself,  and  too  much 
winded  to  dare  risk  a  shot  at  any  distance.  He  got  out 
of  the  burnt  patch,  going  into  some  thick  timber  in  a 
deep  ravine ;  I  closed  pretty  well,  and  rushed  after  him 
into  a  thicket  of  young  evergreens.  Hardly  was  I  in 
when  there  was  a  scramble  and  bounce  among  them  and 
I  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  yellow  body  moving  out  to  one 
side  ;  I  ran  out  toward  the  edge  and  fired  through  the 
twigs  at  the  moving  beast.  Down  it  went,  but  when  I 
ran  up,  to  my  disgust  I  found  that  I  had  jumped  and 
killed,  in  my  haste,  a  black-tail  deer,  which  must  have 
been  already  roused  by  the  passage  of  the  wounded  elk. 
I  at  once  took  up  the  trail  of  the  latter  again,  but  after  a 
little  while  the  blood  grew  less,  and  ceased,  and  I  lost  the 
track  ;  nor  could  I  find  it,  hunt  as  hard  as  I  might.  The 
poor  beast  could  not  have  gone  five  hundred  yards ;  yet 
we  never  found  the  carcass. 

Then  I  walked  slowly  back  past  the  deer  I  had  slain 
by  so  curious  a  mischance,  to  the  elk.  The  first  one 
shot  down  was  already  dead.  The  second  was  only 
wounded,  though  it  could  not  rise.  When  it  saw  us 
coming  it  sought  to  hide  from  us  by  laying  its  neck  flat 


290  Still-Hunting  Elk. 

on  the  ground,  but  when  we  came  up  close  it  raised  its 
head  and  looked  proudly  at  us,  the  heavy  mane  bristling 
up  on  the  neck,  while  its  eyes  glared  and  its  teeth  grated 
together.  I  felt  really  sorry  to  kill  it.  Though  these  were 
both  well-grown  elks,  their  antlers,  of  ten  points,  were 
small,  twisted,  and  ill-shaped ;  in  fact  hardly  worth  pre- 
serving, except  to  call  to  mind  a  chase  in  which  during  a 
few  minutes  I  did  as  much  downright  hard  work  as  it 
has  often  fallen  to  my  lot  to  do.  The  burnt  earth  had 
blackened  our  faces  and  hands  till  we  looked  like  negroes. 
The  bull  elk  had  at  this  time  begun  calling,  and  several 
times  they  were  heard  right  round  camp  at  night,  challen- 
ging one  another  or  calling  to  the  cows.  Their  calling  is 
known  to  hunters  as  "whistling";  but  this  is  a  most 
inappropriate  name  for  it.  It  is  a  most  singular  and 
beautiful  sound,  and  is  very  much  the  most  musical  cry 
uttered  by  any  four-footed  beast.  When  heard  for  the 
first  time  it  is  almost  impossible  to  believe  that  it  is  the  call 
of  an  animal ;  it  sounds  far  more  as  if  made  by  an  ^olian 
harp  or  some  strange  wind  instrument.  It  consists  of 
quite  a  series  of  notes  uttered  continuously,  in  a  most 
soft,  musical,  vibrant  tone,  so  clearly  that  they  can  be 
heard  half  a  mile  off.  Heard  in  the  clear,  frosty  moon- 
light from  the  depths  of  the  rugged  and  forest-clad 
mountains  the  effect  is  most  beautiful ;  for  its  charm  is 
heightened  by  the  wild  and  desolate  surroundings.  It  has 
the  sustained,  varied  melody  of  some  bird  songs,  with,  of 
course,  a  hundred-fold  greater  power.  Now  and  then, 
however,  the  performance  is  marred  by  the  elk's  apparently 
getting  out  of  breath  towards  the  close,  and  winding  up 


Still-Hunting  Elk.  291 

with  two  or  three  gasping  notes  which  have  an  unpleas- 
antly mule-like  sound. 

The  great  pine-clad  mountains,  their  forests  studded 
with  open  glades,  were  the  best  of  places  for  the  still- 
hunter's  craft.  Going  noiselessly  through  them  in  our 
dull-colored  buckskin  and  noiseless  moccasins,  we  kept 
getting  glimpses,  as  it  were,  of  the  inner  life  of  the 
mountains.  Each  animal  that  we  saw  had  its  own  indi- 
viduality. Aside  from  the  thrill  and  tingle  that  a  hunter 
experiences  at  the  sight  of  his  game,  I  by  degrees  grew  to 
feel  as  if  I  had  a  personal  interest  in  the  different  traits  and 
habits  of  the  wild  creatures.  The  characters  of  the  animals 
differed  widely,  and  the  differences  were  typified  by  their 
actions ;  and  it  was  pleasant  to  watch  them  in  their  own 
homes,  myself  unseen,  when  after  stealthy,  silent  progress 
through  the  sombre  and  soundless  depths  of  the  woods  I 
came  upon  them  going  about  the  ordinary  business  of  their 
lives.  The  lumbering,  self-confident  gait  of  the  bears, 
their  burly  strength,  and  their  half-humorous,  half-fero- 
cious look,  gave  me  a  real  insight  into  their  character ; 
and  I  never  was  more  impressed  by  the  exhibition  of  vast, 
physical  power,  than  when  watching  from  an  ambush  a 
grizzly  burying  or  covering  up  an  elk  carcass.  His 
motions  looked  awkward,  but  it  was  marvellous  to  see  the 
ease  and  absence  of  effort  with  which  he  would  scoop  out 
great  holes  in  the  earth,  or  twitch  the  heavy  carcass  from 
side  to  side.  And  the  proud,  graceful,  half-timid,  half- 
defiant  bearing  of  the  elk  was  in  its  own  way  quite  as 
noteworthy ;  they  seemed  to  glory  in  their  own  power  and 
beauty,  and  yet  to  be  ever  on  the  watch  for  foes  against 


292  Still-Hunting  Elk. 

whom  they  knew  they  might  not  dare  to  contend.  The 
true  still-hunter  should  be  a  lover  of  nature  as  well  as  of 
sport,  or  he  will  miss  half  the  pleasure  of  being  in  the 
woods. 

The  finest  bull,  with  the  best  head  that  I  got,  was 
killed  in  the  midst  of  very  beautiful  and  grand  surround- 
ings. We  had  been  hunting  through  a  great  pine  wood 
which  ran  up  to  the  edge  of  a  broad  canyon-like  valley, 
bounded  by  sheer  walls  of  rock.  There  were  fresh  tracks 
of  elk  about,  and  we  had  been  advancing  up  wind  with 
even  more  than  our  usual  caution  when,  on  stepping  out 
into  a  patch  of  open  ground,  near  the  edge  of  the  cliff,  we 
came  upon  a  great  bull,  beating  and  thrashing  his  antlers 
against  a  young  tree,  about  eighty  yards  off.  He  stopped 
and  faced  us  for  a  second,  his  mighty  antlers  thrown  in 
the  air,  as  he  held  his  head  aloft.  Behind  him  towered 
the  tall  and  sombre  pines,  while  at  his  feet  the  jutting 
crags  overhung  the  deep  chasm  below,  that  stretched  off 
between  high  walls  of  barren  and  snow-streaked  rocks,  the 
evergreens  clinging  to  their  sides,  while  along  the  bottom 
the  rapid  torrent  gathered  in  places  into  black  and  sullen 
mountain  lakes.  As  the  bull  turned  to  run  I  struck  him 
just  behind  the  shoulder  ;  he  reeled  to  the  death-blow, 
but  staggered  gamely  on  a  few  rods  into  the  forest  before 
sinking  to  the  ground,  with  my  second  bullet  through  his 
lungs. 

Two  or  three  days  later  than  this  I  killed  another 
bull,  nearly  as  large,  in  the  same  patch  of  woods  in  which 
I  had  slain  the  first.  A  bear  had  been  feeding  on  the 
carcass  of  the  latter,  and,  after  a  vain  effort  to  find  his 


Still-Hunting  Elk.  293 

den,  we  determined  to  beat  through  the  woods  and  try  to 
start  him  up.  Accordingly  Merrifield,  the  teamster,  and 
myself  took  parallel  courses  some  three  hundred  yards 
apart,  and  started  at  one  end  to  walk  through  to  the 
other.  I  doubt  if  the  teamster  much  wished  to  meet  a 
bear  alone  (while  nothing  would  have  given  Merrifield 
more  hearty  and  unaffected  enjoyment  than  to  have  en- 
countered an  entire  family),  and  he  gradually  edged  in 
pretty  close  to  me.  Where  the  woods  became  pretty  open 
I  saw  him  suddenly  lift  his  rifle  and  fire,  and  immediately 
afterwards  a  splendid  bull  elk  trotted  past  in  front  of  me, 
evidently  untouched,  the  teamster  having  missed.  The 
elk  ran  to  the  other  side  of  two  trees  that  stood  close 
together  some  seventy  yards  off,  and  stopped  for  a  moment 
to  look  round.  Kneeling  down  I  fired  at  the  only  part  of 
his  body  I  could  see  between  the  two  trees,  and  sent  a 
bullet  into  his  flank.  Away  he  went,  and  I  after,  running 
in  my  moccasins  over  the  moss  and  pine  needles  for  all 
there  was  in  me.  If  a  wounded  elk  gets  fairly  started  he 
will  go  at  a  measured  trot  for  many  hours,  and  even  if 
mortally  hurt  may  run  twenty  miles  before  falling  ;  while 
at  the  same  time  he  does  not  start  off  at  full  speed,  and 
will  often  give  an  active  hunter  a  chance  for  another  shot 
as  he  turns  and  changes  his  course  preparatory  to  taking  a 
straight  line.  So  I  raced  along  after  the  elk  at  my  very 
best  speed  for  a  few  hundred  feet,  and  then  got  another 
shot  as  he  went  across  a  little  glade,  injuring  his  hip  some- 
what. This  made  it  all  right  for  me,  and  another  hundred 
yards'  burst  took  me  up  to  where  I  was  able  to  put  a  ball 
in  a  fatal  spot,  and  the  grand  old  fellow  sank  down  and 
fell  over  on  his  side. 


294  Still-Hunting  Elk. 

No  sportsman  can  ever  feel  much  keener  pleasure  and 
self-satisfaction  than  when,  after  a  successful  stalk  and 
good  shot,  he  walks  up  to  a  grand  elk  lying  dead  in  the 
cool  shade  of  the  great  evergreens,  and  looks  at  the 
massive  and  yet  finely  moulded  form,  and  at  the  mighty 
antlers  which  are  to  serve  in  the  future  as  the  trophy 
and  proof  of  his  successful  skill.  Still-hunting  the  elk  on 
the  mountains  is  as  noble  a  kind  of  sport  as  can  well  be 
imagined  ;  there  is  nothing  more  pleasant  and  enjoyable, 
and  at  the  same  time  it  demands  that  the  hunter  shall 
bring  into  play  many  manly  qualities.  There  have  been 
few  days  of  my  hunting  life  that  were  so  full  of  unalloyed 
happiness  as  were  those  spent  on  the  Bighorn  range. 
From  morning  till  night  I  was  on  foot,  in  cool,  bracing 
air,  now  moving  silently  through  the  vast,  melancholy  pine 
forests,  now  treading  the  brink  of  high,  rocky  precipices, 
always  amid  the  most  grand  and  beautiful  scenery ;  and 
always  after  as  noble  and  lordly  game  as  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Western  world. 

Since  writing  the  above  I  killed  an  elk  near  my 
ranch  ;  probably  the  last  of  his  race  that  will  ever  be 
found  in  our  neighborhood.  It  was  just  before  the  fall 
round-up.  An  old  hunter,  who  was  under  some  obliga- 
tion to  me,  told  me  that  he  had  shot  a  cow  elk  and 
had  seen  the  tracks  of  one  or  two  others  not  more 
than  twenty-five  miles  off,  in  a  place  where  the  cattle 
rarely  wandered.  Such  a  chance  was  not  to  be  neglected ; 
and,  on  the  first  free  day,  one  of  my  Elk-horn  foremen, 
Will  Dow  by  name,  and  myself,  took  our  hunting  horses 
and  started  off,  accompanied  by  the  ranch  wagon,  in  the 


Still-Hunting  Elk.  295 

direction  of  the  probable  haunts  of  the  doomed  deer. 
Towards  nightfall  we  struck  a  deep  spring  pool,  near 
by  the  remains  of  an  old  Indian  encampment.  It  was 
at  the  head  of  a  great  basin,  several  miles  across,  in 
which  we  believed  the  game  to  lie.  The  wagon  was 
halted  and  we  pitched  camp  ;  there  was  plenty  of  dead 
wood,  and  soon  the  venison  steaks  were  broiling  over 
the  coals  raked  from  beneath  the  crackling  cottonwood 
logs,  while  in  the  narrow  valley  the  ponies  grazed  almost 
within  the  circle  of  the  flickering  fire-light.  It  was  in 
the  cool  and  pleasant  month  of  September ;  and  long 
after  going  to  bed  we  lay  awake  under  the  blankets 
watching  the  stars  that  on  clear  nights  always  shine 
with  such  intense  brightness  over  the  lonely  Western 
plains. 

We  were  up  and  off  by  the  gray  of  the  morning.  It 
was  a  beautiful  hunting  day  ;  the  sundogs  hung  in  the 
red  dawn  ;  the  wind  hardly  stirred  over  the  crisp  grass ; 
and  though  the  sky  was  cloudless  yet  the  weather  had 
that  queer,  smoky,  hazy  look  that  it  is  most  apt  to  take 
on  during  the  time  of  the  Indian  summer.  From  a  high 
spur  of  the  table-land  we  looked  out  far  and  wide  over 
a  great  stretch  of  broken  country,  the  brown  of  whose 
hills  and  valleys  was  varied  everywhere  by  patches  of 
dull  red  and  vivid  yellow,  tokens  that  the  trees  were 
already  putting  on  the  dress  with  which  they  greet  the 
mortal  ripening  of  the  year.  The  deep  and  narrow  but 
smooth  ravines  running  up  towards  the  edges  of  the 
plateaus  were  heavily  wooded,  the  bright  green  tree-tops 
rising  to  a  height  they  rarely  reach  in  the  barren  plains- 


296  Still-Hunting  Elk. 

country  ;  and  the  rocky  sides  of  the  sheer  gorges  were 
clad  with  a  thick  growth  of  dwarfed  cedars,  while  here 
and  there  the  trailing  Virginia  creepers  burned  crimson 
among  their  sombre  masses. 

We  hunted  stealthily  up-wind,  across  the  line  of  the 
heavily  timbered  coulies.  We  soon  saw  traces  of  our 
quarry ;  old  tracks  at  first,  and  then  the  fresh  footprints 
of  a  single  elk — a  bull,  judging  by  the  size — which  had 
come  down  to  drink  at  a  mirey  alkali  pool,  its  feet  slip- 
ping so  as  to  leave  the  marks  of  the  false  hoofs  in  the  soft 
soil.  We  hunted  with  painstaking  and  noiseless  care 
for  many  hours ;  at  last  as  I  led  old  Manitou  up  to 
look  over  the  edge  of  a  narrow  ravine,  there  was  a 
crash  and  movement  in  the  timber  below  me,  and  im- 
mediately afterwards  I  caught  a  glimps  of  a  great  bull 
elk  trotting  up  through  the  young  trees  as  he  gallantly 
breasted  the  steep  hill-side  opposite.  When  clear  of 
the  woods,  and  directly  across  the  valley  from  mej  he 
stopped  and  turned  half  round,  throwing  his  head  in 
the  air  to  gaze  for  a  moment  at  the  intruder.  My 
bullet  struck  too  far  back,  but,  nevertheless,  made  a 
deadly  wound,  and  the  elk  went  over  the  crest  of  the 
hill  at  a  wild,  plunging  gallop.  We  followed  the  bloody 
trail  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  and  found  him  dead  in  a 
thicket.  Though  of  large  size,  he  yet  had  but  small 
antlers,  with  few  points. 


CHAPTER  X. 


OLD    EPHRAIM 


UT  few  bears  are  found  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood  of  my 
ranch ;  and  though  I  have  once 
or  twice  seen  their  tracks  in  the 
Bad  Lands,  I  have  never  had 
any  experience  with  the  animals 
themselves  except  during  the  elk- 
hunting  trip  on  the  Bighorn 
Mountains,  described  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter. 

The  grizzly  bear  undoubtedly  comes  in  the  category 
of  dangerous  game,  and  is,  perhaps,  the  only  animal  in 
the  United  States  that  can  be  fairly  so  placed,  unless 
we  count  the  few  jaguars  found  north  of  the  Rio  Grande. 
But  the  danger  of  hunting  the  grizzly  has  been  greatly 
exaggerated,  and  the  sport  is  certainly  very  much  safer 
than  it  was  at  the  .beginning  of  this  century.  The  first 

hunters   who    came    into    contact   with    this    great    bear 

297 


298  Old  Rphraim. 

were  men  belonging  to  that  hardy  and  adventurous 
class  of  backwoodsmen  which  had  filled  the  wild  country 
between  the  Appalachian  Mountains  and  the  Mississippi. 
These  men  carried  but  one  weapon  :  the  long-barrelled, 
small-bored  pea-rifle,  whose  bullets  ran  seventy  to  the 
pound,  the  amount  of  powder  and  lead  being  a  little  less 
than  that  contained  in  the  cartridge  of  a  thirty-two  calibre 
Winchester.  In  the  Eastern  States  almost  all  the  hunt- 
ing was  done  in  the  woodland ;  the  shots  were  mostly 
obtained  at  short  distance,  and  deer  and  black  bear  were 
the  largest  game  ;  moreover,  the  pea-rifles  were  marvel- 
lously accurate  for  close  range,  and  their  owners  were 
famed  the  world  over  for  their  skill  as  marksmen.  Thus 
these  rifles  had  so  far  proved  plenty  good  enough  for  the 
work  they  had  to  do,  and  indeed  had  done  excellent  service 
as  military  weapons  in  the  ferocious  wars  that  the  men  of 
the  border  carried  on  with  their  Indian  neighbors,  and 
even  in  conflict  with  more  civilized  foes,  as  at  the  battles 
of  King's  Mountain  and  New  Orleans.  But  when  the 
restless  frontiersmen  pressed  out  over  the  Western  plains, 
they  encountered  in  the  grizzly  a  beast  of  far  greater 
bulk  and  more  savage  temper  than  any  of  those  found 
in  the  Eastern  woods,  and  their  small-bore  rifles  were 
utterly  inadequate  weapons  with  which  to  cope  with  him. 
It  is  small  wonder  that  he  was  considered  by  them  to  be 
almost  invulnerable,  and  extraordinarily  tenacious  of  life. 
He  would  be  a  most  unpleasant  antagonist  now  to  a  man 
armed  only  with  a  thirty-two  calibre  rifle,  that  carried  but 
a  single  shot  and  was  loaded  at  the  muzzle.  A  rifle,  to 
be  of  use  in  this  sport,  should  carry  a  ball  weighing  from 


Old  Rphraim.  299 

half  an  ounce  to  an  ounce.  With  the  old  pea-rifles  the 
shot  had  to  be  in  the  eye  or  heart ;  and  accidents  to  the 
hunter  were  very  common.  But  the  introduction  of 
heavy  breech-loading  repeaters  has  greatly  lessened  the 
danger,  even  in  the  very  few  and  far-off  places  where 
the  grizzlies  are  as  ferocious  as  formerly.  For  nowadays 
these  great  bears  are  undoubtedly  much  better  aware  of 
the  death-dealing  power  of  men,  and,  as  a  consequence, 
much  less  fierce,  than  was  the  case  with  their  forefathers, 
who  so  unhesitatingly  attacked  the  early  Western  trav- 
ellers and  explorers.  Constant  contact  with  rifle-carrying 
hunters,  for  a  period  extending  over  many  generations  of 
bear-life,  has  taught  the  grizzly  by  bitter  experience  that 
man  is  his  undoubted  overlord,  as  far  as  fighting  goes ; 
and  this  knowledge  has  become  an  hereditary  character- 
istic. No  grizzly  will  assail  a  man  now  unprovoked,  and 
one  will  almost  always  rather  run  than  fight ;  though 
if  he  is  wounded  or  thinks  himself  cornered  he  will  attack 
his  foes  with  a  headlong,  reckless  fury  that  renders  him 
one  of  the  most  dangerous  of  wild  beasts.  The  ferocity 
of  all  wild  animals  depends  largely  upon  the  amount  of 
resistance  they  are  accustomed  to  meet  with,  and  the 
quantity  of  molestation  to  which  they  are  subjected. 

The  change  in  the  grizzly's  character  during  the  last 
half  century  has  been  precisely  paralleled  by  the  change 
in  the  characters  of  his  northern  cousin,  the  polar  bear, 
and  of  the  South  African  lion.  When  the  Dutch  and 
Scandinavian  sailors  first  penetrated  the  Arctic  seas,  they 
were  kept  in  constant  dread  of  the  white  bear,  who  re- 
garded a  man  as  simply  an  erect  variety  of  seal,  quite 


3°°  Old  Rphraim. 

as  good  eating  as  the  common  kind.  The  records  of 
these  early  explorers  are  filled  with  examples  of  the 
ferocious  and  man-eating  propensities  of  the  polar  bears ; 
but  in  the  accounts  of  most  of  the  later  Arctic  expeditions 
they  are  portrayed  as  having  learned  wisdom,  and  being 
now  most  anxious  to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  the  hunters. 
A  number  of  my  sporting  friends  have  killed  white  bears, 
and  none  of  them  were  ever  even  charged.  And  in 
South  Africa  the  English  sportsmen  and  Dutch  boers 
have  taught  the  lion  to  be  a  very  different  creature  from 
what  it  was  when  the  first  white  man  reached  that  con- 
tinent. If  the  Indian  tiger  had  been  a  native  of  the 
United  States,  it  would  now  be  one  of  the  most  shy 
of  beasts.  Of  late  years  our  estimate  of  the  grizzly's 
ferocity  has  been  lowered  ;  and  we  no  longer  accept 
the  tales  of  uneducated  hunters  as  being  proper  au- 
thority by  which  to  judge  it.  But  we  should  make  a 
parallel  reduction  in  the  cases  of  many  foreign  animals 
and  their  describers.  Take,  for  example,  that  purely 
melodramatic  beast,  the  North  African  lion,  as  portrayed 
by  Jules  Gerard,  who  bombastically  describes  himself  as 
"  le  tueur  des  lions."  Gerard's  accounts  are  self-evidently 
in  large  part  fictitious,  while  if  true  they  would  prove  less 
for  the  bravery  of  the  lion  than  for  the  phenomenal  cow- 
ardice, incapacity,  and  bad  marksmanship  of  the  Algerian 
Arabs.  Doubtless  Gerard  was  a  great  hunter ;  but  so  is 
many  a  Western  plainsman,  whose  account  of  the  grizzlies 
he  has  killed  would  be  wholly  untrustworthy.  Take  for 
instance  the  following  from  page  223  of  "La  Chasse  au 
Lion  "  :  "  The  inhabitants  had  assembled  one  day  to  the 


Old  Ephraim.  3°i 

number  of  two  or  three  hundred  with  the  object  of  killing 
(the  lion)  or  driving  it  out  of  the  country.  The  attack 
took  place  at  sunrise ;  at  mid-day  five  hundred  cartridges 
had  been  expended ;  the  Arabs  carried  off  one  of  their 
number  dead  and  six  wounded,  and  the  lion  remained 
master  of  the  field  of  battle."  Now  if  three  hundred  men 
could  fire  five  hundred  shots  at  a  lion  without  hurting  him, 
it  merely  shows  that  they  were  wholly  incapable  of  hurting 
any  thing,  or  else  that  M.  Gerard  was  more  expert  with 
the  long-bow  than  with^the  rifle.  Gerard's  whole  book  is 
filled  with  equally  preposterous  nonsense ;  yet  a  great 
many  people  seriously  accept  this  same  book  as  trust- 
worthy authority  for  the  manners  and  ferocity  of  the 
North  African  lion.  It  would  be  quite  as  sensible  to 
accept  M.  Jules  Verne's  stories  as  being  valuable  contri- 
butions to  science.  A  good  deal  of  the  lion's  reputation 
is  built  upon  just  such  stuff. 

How  the  prowess  of  the  grizzly  compares  with  that 
of  the  lion  or  tiger  would  be  hard  to  say ;  I  have  never 
shot  either  of  the  latter  myself,  and  my  brother,  who 
has  killed  tigers  in  India,  has  never  had  a  chance  at  a 
grizzly.  Any  one  of  the  big  bears  we  killed  on  the 
mountains  would,  I  should  think,  have  been  able  to  make 
short  work  of  either  a  lion  or  a  tiger  ;  for  the  grizzly 
is  greatly  superior  in  bulk  and  muscular  power  to  either 
of  the  great  cats,  and  its  teeth  are  as  large  as  theirs,  while 
its  claws,  though  blunter,  are  much  longer ;  nevertheless, 
I  believe  that  a  lion  or  a  tiger  would  be  fully  as  dangerous 
to  a  hunter  or  other  human  being,  on  account  of  the 
superior  speed  of  its  charge,  the  lightning-like  rapidity  of 


302  Old  Ephraim. 

its  movements,  and  its  apparently  sharper  senses.  Still, 
after  all  is  said,  the  man  should  have  a  thoroughly  trust- 
worthy weapon  and  a  fairly  cool  head,  who  would  follow 
into  his  own  haunts  and  slay  grim  Old  Ephraim. 

A  grizzly  will  only  fight  if  wounded  or  cornered,  or, 
at  least,  if  he  thinks  himself  cornered.  If  a  man  by 
accident  stumbles  on  to  one  close  up,  he  is  almost  certain 
to  be  attacked  really  more  from  fear  than  from  any  other 
motive ;  exactly  the  same  reason  that  makes  a  rattle- 
snake strike  at  a  passer-by.  I  have  personally  known 
of  but  one  instance  of  a  grizzly  turning  on  a  hunter 
before  being  wounded.  This  happened  to  a  friend  of 
mine,  a  Californian  ranchman,  who,  with  two  or  three 
of  his  men,  was  following  a  bear  that  had  carried  off 
one  of  his  sheep.  They  got  the  bear  into  a  cleft  in 
the  mountain  from  which  there  was  no  escape,  and  he 
suddenly  charged  back  through  the  line  of  his  pursuers, 
struck  down  one  of  the  horsemen,  seized  the  arm  of  the 
man  in  his  jaws  and  broke  it  as  if  it  had  been  a  pipe- 
stem,  and  was  only  killed  after  a  most  lively  fight,  in 
which,  by  repeated  charges,  he  at  one  time  drove  every 
one  of  his  assailants  off  the  field. 

But  two  instances  have  come  to  my  personal  knowl- 
edge where  a  man  has  been  killed  by  a  grizzly.  One  was 
that  of  a  hunter  at  the  foot  of  the  Bighorn  Mountains 
who  had  chased  a  large  bear  and  finally  wounded  him. 
The  animal  turned  at  once  and  came  straight  at  the  man, 
whose  second  shot  missed.  The  bear  then  closed  and 
passed  on,  after  striking  only  a  single  blow ;  yet  that  one 
blow,  given  with  all  the  power  of  its  thick,  immensely 


Old  Rphraim.  303 

muscular  forearm,  armed  with  nails  as  strong  as  so  many 
hooked  steel  spikes,  tore  out  the  man's  collar-bone  and 
snapped  through  three  or  four  ribs.  He  never  recovered 
from  the  shock,  and  died  that  night. 

The  other  instance  occurred  to  a  neighbor  of  mine — 
who  has  a  small  ranch  on  the  Little  Missouri — two  or 
three  years  ago.  He  was  out  on  a  mining  trip,  and  was 
prospecting  with  two  other  men  near  the  head-water  of 
the  Little  Missouri,  In  the  Black  Hills  country.  They 
were  walking  down  along  the  river,  and  came  to  a  point 
of  land,  thrust  out  into  it,  which  was  densely  covered  with 
brush  and  fallen  timber.  Two  of  the  party  walked  round 
by  the  edge  of  the  stream ;  but  the  third,  a  German,  and 
a  very  powerful  fellow,  followed  a  well-beaten  game  trail, 
leading  through  the  bushy  point.  When  they  were  some 
forty  yards  apart  the  two  men  heard  an  agonized  shout 
from  the  German,  and  at  the  same  time  the  loud  cough- 
ing growl,  or  roar,  of  a  bear.  They  turned  just  in  time 
to  see  their  companion  struck  a  terrible  blow  on  the  head 
by  a  grizzly,  which  must  have  been  roused  from  its  lair  by 
his  almost  stepping  on  it ;  so  close  was  it  that  he  had  no 
time  to  fire  his  rifle,  but  merely  held  it  up  over  his  head 
as  a  guard.  Of  course  it  was  struck  down,  the  claws  of 
the  great  brute  at  the  same  time  shattering  his  skull  like 
an  egg-shell.  Yet  the  man  staggered  on  some  ten  feet 
before  he  fell ;  but  when  he  did  he  never  spoke  or  moved 
again.  The  two  others  killed  the  bear  after  a  short, 
brisk  struggle,  as  he  was  in  the  midst  of  a  most  deter- 
mined charge. 

In  1872,  near  Fort  Wingate,  New  Mexico,  two  sol- 


304  Old  Ephraim. 

diers  of  a  cavalry  regiment  came  to  their  death  at  the 
claws  of  a  grizzly  bear.  The  army  surgeon  who  at- 
tended them  told  me  the  particulars,  as  far  as  they  were 
known.  The  men  were  mail  carriers,  and  one  day  did  not 
come  in  at  the  appointed  time.  Next  day,  a  relief  party 
was  sent  out  to  look  for  them,  and  after  some  search 
found  the  bodies  of  both,  as  well  as  that  of  one  of  the 
horses.  One  of  the  men  still  showed  signs  of  life ;  he 
came  to  his  senses  before  dying,  and  told  the  story. 
They  had  seen  a  grizzly  and  pursued  it  on  horseback, 
with  their  Spencer  rifles.  On  coming  close,  one  had  fired 
into  its  side,  when  it  turned  with  marvellous  quickness 
for  so  large  and  unwieldy  an  animal,  and  struck  down  the 
horse,  at  the  same  time  inflicting  a  ghastly  wound  on  the 
rider.  The  other  man  dismounted  and  came  up  to  the 
rescue  of  his  companion.  The  bear  then  left  the  latter 
and  attacked  the  other.  Although  hit  by  the  bullet,  it 
charged  home  and  threw  the  man  down,  and  then  lay  on 
him  and  deliberately  bit  him  to  death,  while  his  groans 
and  cries  were  frightful  to  hear.  Afterward  it  walked 
off  into  the  bushes  without  again  offering  to  molest  the 
already  mortally  wounded  victim  of  its  first  assault. 

At  certain  times  the  grizzly  works  a  good  deal  of  havoc 
among  the  herds  of  the  stockmen.  A  friend  of  mine,  a 
ranchman  in  Montana,  told  me  that  one  fall  bears  became 
very  plenty  around  his  ranches,  and  caused  him  severe 
loss,  killing  with  ease  even  full-grown  beef-steers.  But 
one  of  them  once  found  his  intended  quarry  too  much  for 
him.  My  friend  had  a  stocky,  rather  vicious  range  stallion, 
which  had  been  grazing  one  day  near  a  small  thicket  of 


Old  Rphraim.  305 

bushes,  and,  towards  evening,  came  galloping  in  with  three 
or  four  gashes  in  his  haunch,  that  looked  as  if  they  had 
been  cut  with  a  dull  axe.  The  cowboys  knew  at  once 
that  he  had  been  assailed  by  a  bear,  and  rode  off  to  the 
thicket  near  which  he  had  been  feeding.  Sure  enough  a 
bear,  evidently  in  a  very  bad  temper,  sallied  out  as  soon  as 
the  thicket  was  surrounded,  and,  after  a  spirited  fight  and 
a  succession  of  charges,  was  killed.  On  examination,  it 
was  found  that  his  under  jaw  was  broken,  and  part  of  his 
face  smashed  in,  evidently  by  the  stallion's  hoofs.  The 
horse  had  been  feeding  when  the  bear  leaped  out  at  him 
but  failed  to  kill  at  the  first  stroke  ;  then  the  horse  lashed 
out  behind,  and  not  only  freed  himself,  but  also  severely 
damaged  his  opponent. 

Doubtless,  the  grizzly  could  be  hunted  to  advantage 
with  dogs,  which  would  not,  of  course,  be  expected  to 
seize  him,  but  simply  to  find  and  bay  him,  and  distract  his 
attention  by  barking  and  nipping.  Occasionally  a  bear 
can  be  caught  in  the  open  and  killed  with  the  aid  of  horses. 
But  nine  times  out  of  ten  the  only  way  to  get  one  is  to 
put  on  moccasins  and  still-hunt  it  in  its  own  haunts,  shoot- 
ing it  at  close  quarters.  Either  its  tracks  should  be 
followed  until  the  bed  wherein  it  lies  during  the  day  is 
found,  or  a  given  locality  in  which  it  is  known  to  exist 
should  be  carefully  beaten  through,  or  else  a  bait  should 
be  left  out  and  a  watch  kept  on  it  to  catch  the  bear  when 
he  has  come  to  visit  it. 

For  some  days  after  our  arrival  on  the  Bighorn  range 
we  did  not  come  across  any  grizzly. 


306  Old  Rphraim. 

Although  it  was  still  early  in  September,  the  weather 
was  cool  and  pleasant,  the  nights  being  frosty  ;  and  every 
two  or  three  days  there  was  a  flurry  of  light  snow,  which 
rendered  the  labor  of  tracking  much  more  easy.  Indeed, 
throughout  our  stay  on  the  mountains,  the  peaks  were 
snow-capped  almost  all  the  time.  Our  fare  was  excellent, 
consisting  of  elk  venison,  mountain  grouse,  and  small 
trout ;  the  last  caught  in  one  of  the  beautiful  little  lakes 
that  lay  almost  up  by  timber  line.  To  us,  who  had  for 
weeks  been  accustomed  to  make  small  fires  from  dried 
brush,  or  from  sage-bush  roots,  which  we  dug  out  of  the 
ground,  it  was  a  treat  to  sit  at  night  before  the  roaring 
and  crackling  pine  logs  ;  as  the  old  teamster  quaintly  put 
it,  we  had  at  last  come  to  a  land  "where  the  wood  grew 
on  trees."  There  were  plenty  of  black-tail  deer  in  the 
woods,  and  we  came  across  a  number  of  bands  of  cow  and 
calf  elk,  or  of  young  bulls ;  but  after  several  days'  hunting, 
we  were  still  without  any  head  worth  taking  home,  and 
had  seen  no  sign  of  grizzly,  which  was  the  game  we  were 
especially  anxious  to  kill ;  for  neither  Merrifield  nor  I  had 
ever  seen  a  wild  bear  alive. 

Sometimes  we  hunted  in  company ;  sometimes  each  of 
us  went  out  alone ;  the  teamster,  of  course,  remaining  in 
to  guard  camp  and  cook.  One  day  we  had  separated ;  I 
reached  camp  early  in  the  afternoon,  and  waited  a  couple 
of  hours  before  Merrifield  put  in  an  appearance. 

At  last  I  heard  a  shout — the  familiar  long-drawn  Ei- 
koh-h-h  of  the  cattle-men, — and  he  came  in  sight  galloping 
at  speed  down  an  open  glade,  and  waving  his  hat,  evi- 
dently having  had  good  luck  ;  and  when  he  reined  in  his 


Old  Rphraim.  307 

small,  wiry,  cow-pony,  we  saw  that  he  had  packed  behind 
his  saddle  the  fine,  glossy  pelt  of  a  black  bear.  Better 
still,  he  announced  that  he  had  been  off  about  ten  miles  to 
a  perfect  tangle  of  ravines  and  valleys  where  bear  sign  was 
very  thick  ;  and  not  of  black  bear  either  but  of  grizzly. 
The  black  bear  (the  only  one  we  got  on  the  mountains) 
he  had  run  across  by  accident,  while  riding  up  a  valley  in 
which  there  was  a  patch  of  dead  timber  grown  up  with 
berry  bushes.  He  noticed  a  black  object  which  he  first 
took  to  be  a  stump  ;  for  during  the  past  few  days  we  had 
each  of  us  made  one  or  two  clever  stalks  up  to  charred 
logs  which  our  imagination  converted  into  bears.  On 
coming  near,  however,  the  object  suddenly  took  to  its 
heels  ;  he  followed  over  frightful  ground  at  the  pony's 
best  pace,  until  it  stumbled  and  fell  down.  By  this  time 
he  was  close  on  the  bear,  which  had  just  reached  the  edge 
of  the  wood.  Picking  himself  up,  he  rushed  after  it, 
hearing  it  growling  ahead  of  him  ;  after  running  some 
fifty  yards  the  sounds  stopped,  and  he  stood  still  listening. 
He  saw  and  heard  nothing,  until  he  happened  to  cast  his 
eyes  upwards,  and  there  was  the  bear,  almost  overhead, 
and  about  twenty-five  feet  up  a  tree  ;  and  in  as  many 
seconds  afterwards  it  came  down  to  the  ground  with  a 
bounce,  stone  dead.  It  was  a  young  bear,  in  its  second 
year,  and  had  probably  never  before  seen  a  man,  which 
accounted  for  the  ease  with  which  it  was  treed  and  taken. 
One  minor  result  of  the  encounter  was  to  convince  Merri- 
field — the  list  of  whose  faults  did  not  include  lack  of  self- 
confidence — that  he  could  run  down  any  bear ;  in  conse- 
quence of  which  idea  we  on  more  than  one  subsequent 
occasion  went  through  a  good  deal  of  violent  exertion. 


so8  Old  Rphraim. 

Merrifield's  tale  made  me  decide  to  shift  camp  at  once, 
and  go  over  to  the  spot  where  the  bear-tracks  were  so 
plenty.  Next  morning  we  were  off,  and  by  noon  pitched 
camp  by  a  clear  brook,  in  a  valley  with  steep,  wooded 
sides,  but  with  good  feed  for  the  horses  in  the  open  bot- 
tom. We  rigged  the  canvas  wagon  sheet  into  a  small 
tent,  sheltered  by  the  trees  from  the  wind,  and  piled  great 
pine  logs  near  by  where  we  wished  to  place  the  fire  ;  for  a 
night  camp  in  the  sharp  fall  weather  is  cold  and  dreary 
unless  there  is  a  roaring  blaze  of  flame  in  front  of  the  tent. 

That  afternoon  we  again  went  out,  and  I  shot  a  fine 
bull  elk.  I  came  home  alone  toward  nightfall,  walking 
through  a  reach  of  burnt  forest,  where  there  was  nothing 
but  charred  tree-trunks  and  black  mould.  When  nearly 
through  it  I  came  across  the  huge,  half-human  footprints 
of  a  great  grizzly,  which  must  have  passed  by  within  a  few 
minutes.  It  gave  me  rather  an  eerie  feeling  in  the  silent, 
lonely  woods,  to  see  for  the  first  time  the  unmistakable 
proofs  that  I  was  in  the  home  of  the  mighty  lord  of  the 
wilderness.  I  followed  the  tracks  in  the  fading  twilight 
until  it  became  too  dark  to  see  them  any  longer,  and  then 
shouldered  my  rifle  and  walked  back  to  camp. 

That  evening  we  almost  had  a  visit  from  one  of  the  ani- 
mals we  were  after.  Several  times  we  had  heard  at  night 
the  musical  calling  of  the  bull  elk — a  sound  to  which  no 
writer  has  as  yet  done  justice.  This  particular  night,  when 
we  were  in  bed  and  the  fire  was  smouldering,  we  were  roused 
by  a  ruder  noise — a  kind  of  grunting  or  roaring  whine, 
answered  by  the  frightened  snorts  of  the  ponies.  It  was 
a  bear  which  had  evidently  not  seen  the  fire,  as  it  came 


Old  Ephraim.  309 

from  behind  the  bank,  and  had  probably  been  attracted 
by  the  smell  of  the  horses.  After  it  made  out  what  we 
were  it  stayed  round  a  short  while,  again  uttered  its 
peculiar  roaring  grunt,  and  went  off;  we  had  seized  our 
rifles  and  had  run  out  into  the  woods,  but  in  the  darkness 
could  see  nothing ;  indeed  it  was  rather  lucky  we  did  not 
stumble  across  the  bear,  as  he  could  have  made  short 
work  of  us  when  we  were  at  such  a  disadvantage. 

Next  day  we  went  off  on  a  long  tramp  through  the 
woods  and  along  the  sides  of  the  canyons.  There  were 
plenty  of  berry  bushes  growing  in  clusters  ;  and  all  around 
these  there  were  fresh  tracks  of  bear.  But  the  grizzly  is 
also  a  flesh-eater,  and  has  a  great  liking  for  carrion.  On 
visiting  the  place  where  Merrifield  had  killed  the  black 
bear,  we  found  that  the  grizzlies  had  been  there  before  us, 
and  had  utterly  devoured  the  carcass,  with  cannibal  relish. 
Hardly  a  scrap  was  left,  and  we  turned  our  steps  toward 
where  lay  the  bull  elk  I  had  killed.  It  was  quite  late  in 
the  afternoon  when  we  reached  the  place.  A  grizzly  had 
evidently  been  at  the  carcass  during  the  preceding  night, 
for  his  great  footprints  were  in  the  ground  all  around  it, 
and  the  carcass  itself  was  gnawed  and  torn,  and  partially 
covered  with  earth  and  leaves — for  the  grizzly  has  a  curi- 
ous habit  of  burying  all  of  his  prey  that  he  does  not  at 
the  moment  need.  A  great  many  ravens  had  been  feed- 
ing on  the  body,  and  they  wheeled  about  over  the  tree 
tops  above  us,  uttering  their  barking  croaks. 

The  forest  was  composed  mainly  of  what  are  called 
ridge-pole  pines,  which  grow  close  together,  and  do  not 
branch  out  until  the  stems  are  thirty  or  forty  feet  from 


310  Old  Ephraim. 

the  ground.  Beneath  these  trees  we  walked  over  a  carpet 
of  pine  needles,  upon  which  our  moccasined  feet  made  no 
sound.  The  woods  seemed  vast  and  lonely,  and  their 
silence  was  broken  now  and  then  by  the  strange  noises 
always  to  be  heard  in  the  great  forests,  and  which  seem 
to  mark  the  sad  and  everlasting  unrest  of  the  wilderness. 
We  climbed  up  along  the  trunk  of  a  dead  tree  which  had 
toppled  over  until  its  upper  branches  struck  in  the  limb 
crotch  of  another,  that  thus  supported  it  at  an  angle  half- 
way in  its  fall.  When  above  the  ground  far  enough  to 
prevent  the  bear's  smelling  us,  we  sat  still  to  wait  for  his 
approach ;  until,  in  the  gathering  gloom,  we  could  no 
longer  see  the  sights  of  our  rifles,  and  could  but  dimly 
make  out  the  carcass  of  the  great  elk.  It  was  useless  to 
wait  longer ;  and  we  clambered  down  and  stole  out  to  the 
edge  of  the  woods.  The  forest  here  covered  one  side  of 
a  steep,  almost  canyon-like  ravine,  whose  other  side  was 
bare  except  of  rock  and  sage-brush.  Once  out  from 
under  the  trees  there  was  still  plenty  of  light,  although 
the  sun  had  set,  and  we  crossed  over  some  fifty  yards  to 
the  opposite  hill-side,  and  crouched  down  under  a  bush  to 
see  if  perchance  some  animal  might  not  also  leave  the 
cover.  To  our  right  the  ravine  sloped  downward  toward 
the  valley  of  the  Bighorn  River,  and  far  on  its  other  side 
we  could  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  great  main  chain  of  the 
Rockies,  their  snow  peaks  glinting  crimson  in  the  light  of 
the  set  sun.  Again  we  waited  quietly  in  the  growing 
dusk  until  the  pine  trees  in  our  front  blended  into  one 
dark,  frowning  mass.  We  saw  nothing ;  but  the  wild 
creatures  of  the  forest  had  begun  to  stir  abroad.  The 


Old  Ephraim.  3" 

owls  hooted  dismally  from  the  tops  of  the  tall  trees,  and 
two  or  three  times  a  harsh  wailing  cry,  probably  the  voice 
of  some  lynx  or  wolverine,  arose  from  the  depths  of  the 
woods.  At  last,  as  we  were  rising  to  leave,  we  heard  the 
sound  of  the  breaking  of  a  dead  stick,  from  the  spot 
where  we  knew  the  carcass  lay.  It  was  a  sharp,  sudden 
noise,  perfectly  distinct  from  the  natural  creaking  and 
snapping  of  the  branches  ;  just  such  a  sound  as  would  be 
made  by  the  tread  of  some  heavy  creature.  "  Old  Ephra- 
im "  had  come  back  to  the  carcass.  A  minute  afterward, 
listening  with  strained  ears,  we  heard  him  brush  by  some 
dry  twigs.  It  was  entirely  too  dark  to  go  in  after  him ; 
but  we  made  up  our  minds  that  on  the  morrow  he  should 
be  ours. 

Early  next  morning  we  were  over  at  the  elk  carcass, 
and,  as  we  expected,  found  that  the  bear  had  eaten  his  fill 
at  it  during  the  night.  His  tracks  showed  him  to  be  an 
immense  fellow,  and  were  so  fresh  that  we  doubted  if  he 
had  left  long  before  we  arrived ;  and  we  made  up  our 
minds  to  follow  him  up  and  try  to  find  his  lair.  The 
bears  that  lived  on  these  mountains  had  evidently  been 
little  disturbed  ;  indeed,  the  Indians  and  most  of  the 
white  hunters  are  rather  chary  of  meddling  with  "  Old 
Ephraim,"  as  the  mountain  men  style  the  grizzly,  unless 
they  get  him  at  a  disadvantage  ;  for  the  sport  is  fraught 
with  some  danger  and  but  small  profit.  The  bears  thus 
seemed  to  have  very  little  fear  of  harm,  and  we  thought 
it  likely  that  the  bed  of  the  one  who  had  fed  on  the  elk 
would  not  be  far  away. 

My  companion  was  a  skilful  tracker,  and  we  took  up 


3 '2  Old  Ephraim. 

the  trail  at  once.  For  some  distance  it  led  over  the  soft, 
yielding  carpet  of  moss  and  pine  needles,  and  the  foot- 
prints were  quite  easily  made  out,  although  we  could  fol- 
low them  but  slowly ;  for  we  had,  of  course,  to  keep  a 
sharp  look-out  ahead  and  around  us  as  we  walked  noise- 
lessly on  in  the  sombre  half-light  always  prevailing  under 
the  great  pine  trees,  through  whose  thickly  interlacing 
branches  stray  but  few  beams  of  light,  no  matter  how 
bright  the  sun  may  be  outside.  We  made  no  sound  our- 
selves, and  every  little  sudden  noise  sent  a  thrill  through 
me  as  I  peered  about  with  each  sense  on  the  alert.  Two 
or  three  of  the  ravens  that  we  had  scared  from  the  car- 
cass flew  overhead,  croaking  hoarsely ;  and  the  pine  tops 
moaned  and  sighed  in  the  slight  breeze — for  pine  trees 
seem  to  be  ever  in  motion,  no  matter  how  light  the  wind. 
After  going  a  few  hundred  yards  the  tracks  turned  off 
on  a  well-beaten  path  made  by  the  elk ;  the  woods  were 
in  many  places  cut  up  by  these  game  trails,  which  had 
often  become  as  distinct  as  ordinary  foot-paths.  The 
beast's  footprints  were  perfectly  plain  in  the  dust,  and  he 
had  lumbered  along  up  the  path  until  near  the  middle  of 
the  hill-side,  where  the  ground  broke  away  and  there  were 
hollows  and  boulders.  Here  there  had  been  a  windfall, 
and  the  dead  trees  lay  among  the  living,  piled  across  one 
another  in  all  directions  ;  while  between  and  around  them 
sprouted  up  a  thick  growth  of  young  spruces  and  other 
evergreens.  The  trail  turned  off  into  the  tangled  thicket, 
within  which  it  was  almost  certain  we  would  find  our  quarry. 
We  could  still  follow  the  tracks,  by  the  slight  scrapes  of 
the  claws  on  the  bark,  or  by  the  bent  and  broken  twigs ; 


Old  Rphraim. 

and  we  advanced  with  noiseless  caution,  slowly  climbing 
over  the  dead  tree  trunks  and  upturned  stumps,  and  not 
letting  a  branch  rustle  or  catch  on  our  clothes.  When  in 
the  middle  of  the  thicket  we  crossed  what  was  almost  a 
breastwork  of  fallen  logs,  and  Merrifield,  who  was  leading, 
passed  by  the  upright  stem  of  a  great  pine.  As  soon  as 
he  was  by  it  he  sank  suddenly  on  one  knee,  turning  half 
round,  his  face  fairly  aflame  with  excitement ;  and  as  I 
strode  past  him,  with  my  rifle  at  the  ready,  there,  not  ten 
steps  off,  was  the  great  bear,  slowly  rising  from  his  bed 
among  the  young  spruces.  He  had  heard  us,  but  appar- 
ently hardly  knew  exactly  where  or  what  we  were,  for  he 
reared  up  on  his  haunches  sideways  to  us.  Then  he  saw 
us  and  dropped  down  again  on  all  fours,  the  shaggy  hair 
on  his  neck  and  shoulders  seeming  to  bristle  as  he  turned 
toward  us.  As  he  sank  down  on  his  forefeet  I  had  raised 
the  rifle ;  his  head  was  bent  slightly  down,  and  when  I 
saw  the  top  of  the  white  bead  fairly  between  his  small, 
glittering,  evil  eyes,  I  pulled  trigger.  Half-rising  up,  the 
huge  beast  fell  over  on  his  side  in  the  death  throes,  the 
ball  having  gone  into  his  brain,  striking  as  fairly  between 
the  eyes  as  if  the  distance  had  been  measured  by  a  car- 
penter's rule. 

The  whole  thing  was  over  in  twenty  seconds  from  the 
time  I  caught  sight  of  the  game ;  indeed,  it  was  over  so 
quickly  that  the  grizzly  did  not  have  time  to  show  fight  at 
all  or  come  a  step  toward  us.  It  was  the  first  I  had  ever 
seen,  and  I  felt  not  a  little  proud,  as  I  stood  over  the 
great  brindled  bulk,  which  lay  stretched  out  at  length  in 
the  cool  shade  of  the  evergreens.  He  was  a  monstrous 


3H  Old  Ephraim. 

fellow,  much  larger  than  any  I  have  seen  since,  whether 
alive  or  brought  in  dead  by  the  hunters.  As  near  as  we 
could  estimate  (for  of  course  we  had  nothing  with  which 
to  weigh  more  than  very  small  portions)  he  must  have 
weighed  about  twelve  hundred  pounds,  and  though  this  is 
not  as  large  as  some  of  his  kind  are  said  to  grow  in  Cali- 
fornia, it  is  yet  a  very  unusual  size  for  a  bear.  He  was  a 
good  deal  heavier  than  any  of  our  horses  ;  and  it  was  with 
the  greatest  difficulty  that  we  were  able  to  skin  him.  He 
must  have  been  very  old,  his  teeth  and  claws  being  all 
worn  down  and  blunted  ;  but  nevertheless  he  had  been 
living  in  plenty,  for  he  was  as  fat  as  a  prize  hog,  the 
layers  on  his  back  being  a  finger's  length  in  thickness. 
He  was  still  in  the  summer  coat,  his  hair  being  short,  and 
in  color  a  curious  brindled  brown,  somewhat  like  that  of 
certain  bull-dogs ;  while  all  the  bears  we  shot  afterward 
had  the  long  thick  winter  fur,  cinnamon  or  yellowish 
brown.  By  the  way,  the  name  of  this  bear  has  reference 
to  its  character  and  not  to  its  color,  and  should,  I  sup- 
pose, be  properly  spelt  grisly — in  the  sense  of  horrible, 
exactly  as  we  speak  of  a  "  grisly  spectre  " — and  not  griz- 
zly ;  but  perhaps  the  latter  way  of  spelling  it  is  too  well 
established  to  be  now  changed. 

In  killing  dangerous  game  steadiness  is  more  needed 
than  good  shooting.  No  game  is  dangerous  unless  a  man 
is  close  up,  for  nowadays  hardly  any  wild  beast  will  charge 
from  a  distance  of  a  hundred  yards,  but  will  rather  try  to 
run  off ;  and  if  a  man  is  close  it  is  easy  enough  for  him 
to  shoot  straight  if  he  does  not  lose  his  head.  A  bear's 
brain  is  about  the  size  of  a  pint  bottle  ;  and  any  one  can 


Old  Ephraim.  315 

hit  a  pint  bottle  off-hand  at  thirty  or  forty  feet.  I  have 
had  two  shots  at  bears  at  close  quarters,  and  each  time  I 
fired  into  the  brain,  the  bullet  in  one  case  striking  fairly 
between  the  eyes,  as  told  above,  and  in  the  other  going  in 
between  the  eye  and  ear.  A  novice  at  this  kind  of  sport 
will  find  it  best  and  safest  to  keep  in  mind  the  old  Norse 
viking's  advice  in  reference  to  a  long  sword  :  "If  you  go 
in  close  enough  your  sword  will  be  long  enough."  If  a 
poor  shot  goes  in  close  enough  he  will  find  that  he  shoots 
straight  enough. 

I  was  very  proud  over  my  first  bear ;  but  Merrifield's 
chief  feeling  seemed  to  be  disappointment  that  the  animal 
had  not  had  time  to  show  fight.  He  was  rather  a  reckless 
fellow,  and  very  confident  in  his  own  skill  with  the  rifle  ; 
and  he  really  did  not  seem  to  have  any  more  fear  of  the 
grizzlies  than  if  they  had  been  so  many  jack-rabbits.  I  did 
not  at  all  share  his  feelings,  having  a  hearty  respect  for  my 
foes'  prowess,  and  in  following  and  attacking  them  always 
took  all  possible  care  to  get  the  chances  on  my  side. 
Merrifield  was  sincerely  sorry  that  we  never  had  to  stand 
a  regular  charge ;  while  on  this  trip  we  killed  five  grizzlies 
with  seven  bullets,  and  except  in  the  case  of  the  she  and  cub, 
spoken  of  further  on,  each  was  shot  about  as  quickly  as  it.got 
sight  of  us.  The  last  one  we  got  was  an  old  male,  which 
was  feeding  on  an  elk  carcass.  We  crept  up  to  within 
about  sixty  feet,  and  as  Merrifield  had  not  yet  killed  a 
grizzly  purely  to  his  own  gun,  and  I  had  killed  three,  I 
told  him  to  take  the  shot.  He  at  once  whispered  glee- 
fully :  "  I  '11  break  his  leg,  and  we  '11  see  what  he  '11  do  ! " 
Having  no  ambition  to  be  a  participator  in  the  antics  of  a 


3l6  Old  Rphraim. 

three-legged  bear,  I  hastily  interposed  a  most  emphatic 
veto  ;  and  with  a  rather  injured  air  he  fired,  the  bullet  going 
through  the  neck  just  back  of  the  head.  The  bear  fell  to 
the  shot,  and  could  not  get  up  from  the  ground,  dying  in 
a  few  minutes  ;  but  first  he  seized  his  left  wrist  in  his 
teeth  and  bit  clean  through  it,  completely  separating  the 
bones  of  the  paw  and  arm.  Although  a  smaller  bear  than 
the  big  one  I  first  shot,  he  would  probably  have  proved  a 
much  more  ugly  foe,  for  he  was  less  unwieldy,  and  had 
much  longer  and  sharper  teeth  and  claws.  I  think  that  if 
my  companion  had  merely  broken  the  beast's  leg  he  would 
have  had  his  curiosity  as  to  its  probable  conduct  more 
than  gratified. 

We  tried  eating  the  grizzly's  flesh  but  it  was  not  good, 
being  coarse  and  not  well  flavored ;  and  besides,  we  could 
not  get  over  the  feeling  that  it  had  belonged  to  a  carrion 
feeder.  The  flesh  of  the  little  black  bear,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  excellent ;  it  tasted  like  that  of  a  young  pig. 
Doubtless,  if  a  young  grizzly,  which  had  fed  merely  upon 
fruits,  berries,  and  acorns,  was  killed,  its  flesh  would  prove 
good  eating ;  but  even  then,  it  would  probably  not  be 
equal  to  a  black  bear. 

A  day  or  two  after  the  death  of  the  big  bear,  we  went 
out  one  afternoon  on  horseback,  intending  merely  to  ride 
down  to  see  a  great  canyon  lying  some  six  miles  west  of 
our  camp ;  indeed,  we  went  more  to  look  at  the  scenery 
than  for  any  other  reason,  though,  of  course,  neither  of  us 
ever  stirred  out  of  camp  without  his  rifle.  We  rode  down 
the  valley  in  which  we  had  camped,  through  alternate  pine 
groves  and  open  glades,  until  we  reached  the  canyon,  and 


Old  Ephraim..  317 

then  skirted  its  brink  for  a  mile  or  so.  It  was  a  great 
chasm,  many  miles  in  length,  as  if  the  table-land  had  been 
rent  asunder  by  some  terrible  and  unknown  force ;  its 
sides  were  sheer  walls  of  rock,  rising  three  or  four  hundred 
feet  straight  up  in  the  air,  and  worn  by  the  weather  till 
they  looked  like  the  towers  and  battlements  of  some  vast 
fortress.  Between  them  at  the  bottom  was  a  space,  in 
some  places  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide,  in  others  very 
narrow,  through  whose  middle  foamed  a  deep,  rapid  torrent 
of  which  the  sources  lay  far  back  among  the  snow-topped 
mountains  around  Cloud  Peak.  In  this  valley,  dark-green, 
sombre  pines  stood  in  groups,  stiff  and  erect ;  and  here 
and  there  among  them  were  groves  of  poplar  and  cotton- 
wood,  with  slender  branches  and  trembling  leaves,  their 
bright  green  already  changing  to  yellow  in  the  sharp  fall 
weather.  We  went  down  to  where  the  mouth  of  the 
canyon  opened  out,  and  rode  our  horses  to  the  end  of  a 
great  jutting  promontory  of  rock,  thrust  out  into  the  plain  ; 
and  in  the  cold,  clear  air  we  looked  far  over  the  broad 
valley  of  the  Bighorn  as  it  lay  at  our  very  feet,  walled  in 
on  the  other  side  by  the  distant  chain  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains. 

Turning  our  horses,  we  rode  back  along  the  edge  of 
another  canyon-like  valley,  with  a  brook  flowing  down  its 
centre,  and  its  rocky  sides  covered  with  an  uninterrupted 
pine  forest — the  place  of  all  others  in  whose  inaccessible 
wildness  and  ruggedness  a  bear  would  find  a  safe 
retreat.  After  some  time  we  came  to  where  other  valleys, 
with  steep,  grass-grown  sides,  covered  with  sage-brush, 
branched  out  from  it,  and  we  followed  one  of  these  out 


318  Old  Ephraim. 

There  was  plenty  of  elk  sign  about,  and  we  saw  several 
black-tail  deer.  These  last  were  very  common  on  the 
mountains,  but  we  had  not  hunted  them  at  all,  as  we  were 
in  no  need  of  meat.  But  this  afternoon  we  came  across  a 
buck  with  remarkably  fine  antlers,  and  accordingly  I  shot 
it,  and  we  stopped  to  cut  off  and  skin  out  the  horns, 
throwing  the  reins  over  the  heads  of  the  horses  and  leav- 
ing them  to  graze  by  themselves.  The  body  lay  near  the 
crest  of  one  side  of  a  deep  valley,  or  ravine,  which  headed 
up  on  the  plateau  a  mile  to  our  left.  Except  for  scattered 
trees  and  bushes  the  valley  was  bare ;  but  there  was  heavy 
timber  along  the  crests  of  the  hills  on  its  opposite  side. 
It  took  some  time  to  fix  the  head  properly,  and  we 
were  just  ending  when  Merrifield  sprang  to  his  feet  and 
exclaimed  :  "  Look  at  the  bears  ! "  pointing  down  into  the 
valley  below  us.  Sure  enough  there  were  two  bears 
(which  afterwards  proved  to  be  an  old  she  and  a  nearly 
full-grown  cub)  travelling  up  the  bottom  of  the  valley, 
much  too  far  off  for  us  to  shoot.  Grasping  our  rifles  and 
throwing  off  our  hats  we  started  off  as  hard  as  we  could 
run,  diagonally  down  the  hill-side,  so  as  to  cut  them  off. 
It  was  some  little  time  before  they  saw  us,  when  they 
made  off  at  a  lumbering  gallop  up  the  valley.  It  would 
seem  impossible  to  run  into  two  grizzlies  in  the  open,  but 
they  were  going  up  hill  and  we  down,  and  moreover  the 
old  one  kept  stopping.  The  cub  would  forge  ahead  and 
could  probably  have  escaped  us,  but  the  mother  now  and 
then  stopped  to  sit  up  on  her  haunches  and  look  round  at 
us,  when  the  cub  would  run  back  to  her.  The  upshot  was 
that  we  got  ahead  of  them,  when  they  turned  and  went 


Old  Ephraim.  319 

straight  up  one  hill-side  as  we  ran  straight  down  the  other 
behind  them.  JBy  this  time  I  was  pretty  nearly  done  out, 
for  running  along  the  steep  ground  through  the  sage-brush 
was  most  exhausting  work ;  and  Merrifield  kept  gaining 
on  me  and  was  well  in  front.  Just  as  he  disappeared  over 
a  bank,  almost  at  the  bottom  of  the  valley,  I  tripped  over 
a  bush  and  fell  full-length.  When  I  got  up  I  knew  I 
could  never  make  up  the  ground  I  had  lost,  and  besides, 
could  hardly  run  any  longer  ;  Merrifield  was  out  of  sight 
below,  and  the  bears  were  laboring  up  the  steep  hill-side 
directly  opposite  and  about  three  hundred  yards  off,  so  I 
sat  down  and  began  to  shoot  over  Merrifield's  head,  aiming 
at  the  big  bear.  She  was  going  very  steadily  and  in  a 
straight  line,  and  each  bullet  sent  up  a  puff  of  dust  where 
it  struck  the  dry  soil,  so  that  I  could  keep  correcting  my 
aim  ;  and  the  fourth  ball  crashed  into  the  old  bear's  flank. 
She  lurched  heavily  forward,  but  recovered  herself  and 
reached  the  timber,  while  Merrifield,  who  had  put  on  a 
spurt,  was  not  far  behind. 

I  toiled  up  the  hill  at  a  sort  of  trot,  fairly  gasping 
and  sobbing  for  breath  ;  but  before  I  got  to  the  top  I 
heard  a  couple  of  shots  and  a  shout.  The  old  bear  had 
turned  as  soon  as  she  was  in  the  timber,  and  came  towards 
Merrifield,  but  he  gave  her  the  death  wound  by  firing  into 
her  chest,  and  then  shot  at  the  young  one,  knocking  it 
over.  When  I  came  up  he  was  just  walking  towards  the 
latter  to  finish  it  with  the  revolver,  but  it  suddenly  jumped 
up  as  lively  as  ever  and  made  off  at  a  great  pace — for  it 
was  nearly  full-grown.  It  was  impossible  to  fire  where 
the  tree  trunks  were  so  thick,  but  there  was  a  small  open- 


320  Old  Rphraim. 

ing  across  which  it  would  have  to  pass,  and  collecting  all 
my  energies  I  made  a  last  run,  got  into  notion,  and  cov- 
ered the  opening  with  my  rifle.  The  instant  the  bear 
appeared  I  fired,  and  it  turned  a  dozen  somersaults  down- 
hill, rolling  over  and  over ;  the  ball  had  struck  it  near  the 
tail  and  had  ranged  forward  through  the  hollow  of-  the 
body.  Each  of  us  had  thus  given  the  fatal  wound  to  the 
bear  into  which  the  other  had  fired  the  first  bullet.  The 
run,  though  short,  had  been  very  sharp,  and  over  such 
awful  country  that  we  were  completely  fagged  out,  and 
could  hardly  speak  for  lack  of  breath.  The  sun  had 
already  set,  and  it  was  too  late  to  skin  the  animals  ;  so  we 
merely  dressed  them,  caught  the  ponies — with  some 
trouble,  for  they  were  frightened  at  the  smell  of  the  bear's 
blood  on  our  hands, — and  rode  home  through  the  darken- 
ing woods.  Next  day  we  brought  the  teamster  and  two 
of  the  steadiest  pack-horses  to  the  carcasses,  and  took  the 
skins  into  camp. 

The  feed  for  the  horses  was  excellent  in  the  valley  in 
which  we  were  camped,  and  the  rest  after  their  long 
journey  across  the  plains  did  them  good.  They  had 
picked  up  wonderfully  in  condition  during  our  stay  on  the 
mountains  ;  but  they  were  apt  to  wander  very  far  during 
the  night,  for  there  were  so  many  bears  and  other  wild 
beasts  around  that  they  kept  getting  frightened  and  run- 
ning off.  We  were  very  loath  to  leave  our  hunting  grounds, 
but  time  was  pressing,  and  we  had  already  many  more 
trophies  than  we  could  carry  ;  so  one  cool  morning,  when 
the  branches  of  the  evergreens  were  laden  with  the 
feathery  snow  that  had  fallen  overnight,  we  struck  camp 


Old  Rpkraim.  321 

and  started  out  of  the  mountains,  each  of  us  taking  his 
own  bedding  behind  his  saddle,  while  the  pack-ponies 
were  loaded  down  with  bearskins,  elk  and  deer  antlers, 
and  the  hides  and  furs  of  other  game.  In  single  file  we 
moved  through  the  woods,  and  across  the  canyons  to  the 
edge  of  the  great  table-land,  and  then  slowly  down  the 
steep  slope  to  its  foot,  where  we  found  our  canvas-topped 
wagon  ;  and  next  day  saw  us  setting  out  on  our  long 
journey  homewards,  across  the  three  hundred  weary  miles 
of  treeless  and  barren-looking  plains  country. 

Last  spring,  since  the  above  was  written,  a  bear 
killed  a  man  not  very  far  from  my  ranch.  It  was  at 
the  time  of  the  floods.  Two  hunters  came  down  the 
river,  by  our  ranch,  on  a  raft,  stopping  to  take  dinner.  A 
score  or  so  of  miles  below,  as  we  afterwards  heard  from  the 
survivor,  they  landed,  and  found  a  bear  in  a  small  patch  of 
brushwood.  After  waiting  in  vain  for  it  to  come  out,  one 
of  the  men  rashly  attempted  to  enter  the  thicket,  and 
was  instantly  struck  down  by  the  beast,  before  he  could  so 
much  as  fire  his  rifle.  It  broke  in  his  skull  with  a 
blow  of  its  great  paw,  and  then  seized  his  arm  in  its 
jaws,  biting  it  through  and  through  in  three  places,  but 
leaving  the  body  and  retreating  into  the  bushes  as  soon 
as  the  unfortunate  man's  companion  approached.  We 
did  not  hear  of  the  accident  until  too  late  to  go  after 
the  bear,  as  we  were  just  about  starting  to  join  the 
spring  round-up. 


ADDENDUM. 


IN  speaking  of  the  trust  antelope  place  in  their  eye- 
sight as  a  guard  against  danger,  I  do  not  mean  to  imply 
that  their  noses  are  not  also  very  acute ;  it  is  as  import- 
ant with  them  as  with  all  other  game  to  prevent  their 
getting  the  hunter's  wind.  So  with  deer ;  while  their 
eyes  are  not  as  sharp  as  those  of  big-horn  and  prong-horn, 
they  are  yet  quite  keen  enough  to  make  it  necessary 
for  the  still  hunter  to  take  every  precaution  to  avoid 
being  seen. 

Although  with  us  antelope  display  the  most  rooted 
objection  to  entering  broken  or  wooded  ground,  yet  a 
friend  of  mine,  whose  experience  in  the  hunting-field  is 
many  times  as  great  as  my  own,  tells  me  that  in  certain 
parts  of  the  country  they  seem  by  preference  to  go 
among  the  steepest  and  roughest  places  (of  course,  in  so 
doing,  being  obliged  to  make  vertical  as  well  as  hori- 
zontal leaps),  and  even  penetrate  into  thick  woods. 
Indeed,  no  other  species  seems  to  show  such  peculiar 
"  freakiness  "  of  character,  both  individually  and  locally. 


323 


INDEX. 


Antelope,  iboetseq.;  shed  horns  annually, 
181 ;  as  food,  181  ;  appearance  of,  181  ; 
curiosity  of,  182  ;  flagging,  182  ;  shyness 
of,  183 ;  habits  of,  184,  201,  203-205  ; 
fleetnessof,  186 ;  cannot  jump  high,  187 ; 
broad  jumpers,  188  ;  tame  fawns,  189  ; 
killed  by  war-eagle,  190  ;  voice  of,  191  ; 
haunts  of,  191  ;  need  water,  191  ;  hints 
for  hunting,  194  ;  author  hunts,  195- 
204,  210-213  ;  author  kills,  204,  213  ; 
follow  the  leader,  205  ;  trust  in  eyesight 
of,  322 

Aurochs,  243 

Avocet,  64 


jer,  hole,  208 ;  foe  to  prairie-dog, 
209,  2IO 

Bad  Lands,  appearance  of,  2,  228  ;  geo- 
logical formation  of,  143,  144 

Bear,  black,  307 

Bear,  grizzly,  297  et  seq.;  less  dangerous 
than  of  old,  297-299  ;  compared  with 
other  big  game,  300-302  ;  men  killed 
by,  302,  303,  321  ;  attack  of  a,  302  ; 
horse  beats  off  a,  305  ;  method  of  hunt- 
ing. 305  I  author  hunts,  305-314,  316- 
320 ;  whining  of,  308  ;  author  kills, 
313,  320 ;  weight  of,  314  ;  name  of, 
how  derived,  314  ;  as  food,  316 

Beaver,  48  ;  meadow,  49  ;  dam,  50 

"  Bedding  down,"  72 

Big-horn,  see  Mountain  sheep. 

Bighorn  Mountains,  275  ;  resemblance  of, 
to  Adirondacks,  285 

Bone-hunters,  244 


Books,  suggestions  for  a  ranchman's 
library,  12 

Buckboard,  172 

Bucking  horses,  5,  6 

Buffalo,  extermination  of,  3,  242-245 ; 
remains  of  dead,  243,  244  ;  trails,  244  ; 
gregariousness  of,  245,  246 ;  mountain 
species  of,  developed  by  hunting,  247  ; 
natural  reasons  for  extermination  of, 
249 ;  dangers  of  hunting,  250 ;  man 
killed  by,  250,  251  ;  adventure  of  John 
Roosevelt  with,  251  ;  tenaciousness  of 
life  of  a,  253  ;  easily  tamed,  254 ;  best 
rifle  for  shooting,  254,  255  ;  author 
hunts,  257-263,  267-269  ;  charged  by  a, 
262  ;  kills,  268 

Buffalo,  mountain,  see  Buffalo,  wood. 

Buffalo,  wood,  247,  248 

Buffle-head,  see  Ducks,  dipper. 

Camp,  how  made,  55  et  seq. 

Cattle  plains,  the  northern,  2 

Cattle  raising,  progress  of,  3  et  seq.;  un. 
profitable  for  new  men,  20 

Chimney  Butte  ranch,  9 

Cougar,  haunts  of,  25  ;  method  of  killing 
steers,  25  ;  bronzes  of,  26 ;  negro  killed 
by,  26,  27  ;  easily  trapped,  28  ;  foe  to 
elk,  275 

Coulies,  10 

Cowboys,  6  ;  characteristics  of,  7 ;  Texans 
most  expert,  7  ;  dress  of,  7,  8  ;  horse- 
gear,  8  ;  seat  in  saddle  of,  8  ;  work  of, 
15,  16  ;  pleasures  of,  16,  17  ;  call  of, 
306 


325 


326 


Index. 


Cow-buntings,  74 

Coyote,  extermination  of,  2i  ;  kills  sheep, 
22  ;  wail  of,  125  ;  will  not  harm  game 
hanging  up,  172  ;  kills  antelope  fawns, 
190  ;  found  near  prairie-dog  towns,  209 

Curlew,  6 1 

"  Cutting  out,"  manner  of,  16 

Deer,  black-tail,  126  et  seq.;  appearance 
of,  126,  152  ;  gait  in  running  of,  127  ; 
haunts  of,  128,  143  ;  hunting  on  horse- 
back, 129-131  ;  still-hunting,  132  ;  most 
desired  game,  133  ;  extermination  of, 
rapid,  134  ;  curiosity  of,  134  ;  author 
hunts, 134,  135, 165-172,  174-177,  178, 
179 ;  author  kills,  135,  150,  168,  172, 
J77»  X79  I  habits  of,  when  hunted,  135- 
137,  142  ;  dress  for  hunting,  142  ;  habits 
of,  144-148  ;  hunting  in  darkness,  149  ; 
formidable  when  wounded,  150  ;  hints 
for  hunting,  153-157,  160;  where  to 
hit  a,  155;  killed  by  mistake,  289 

Deer,  mule,  see  Deer,  black-tail. 

Deer  of  the  river  bottoms,  see  Deer,  white- 
tail. 

Deer,  white-tail,  102  et  seq. ;  haunts  of, 
103  ;  author  hunts,  105-107,  122,  123  ; 
author  kills,  107,  123  ;  sagacity  of  two 
fawns,  108  ;  habits  of,  109,  no  ;  fawns 
as  pets,  no;  hints  for  hunting,  ni- 
117  ;  difficulty  in  seeing,  123  ;  change 
of  coat  of,  123  ;  gait  in  running  of,  127 

Dogs,  combats  of,  with  wolves,  24  ;  match 
for  cougar,  27  ;  little  used  on  plains, 
68,  95  ;  in  danger  of  poison,  68,  156  ; 
shooting  grouse  over,  86  et  seq.;  "  stub- 
tail,"  86  ;  coursing  jack-rabbits  with, 
95  ;  coursing  wild  turkey  with,  100 ; 
hunting  white-tail  deer  with,  115  ;  in 
deer  hunting,  156  ;  riding  after  hounds 
a  manly  sport,  158  ;  coursing  antelope 
with,  186,  195  ;  desirable  in  hunting 
grizzlies,  305 

Dough-bird,  64 

Dow,  Will,  294 

Duck,  shoveller,  53,  61 

Duck,  spoon-bill,  53 

Ducks  :  mallard,  51,  52,  57,  delicious  eat- 
ing, 58  ;  gun  for  duck-shooting,  52,  58  ; 


pintail,  53,  59  ;  scaup,  56  ;  red-head, 
57  ;  dipper,  57 ;  canvasback,  58  ;  wood, 
59  ;  overtaken  by  a  hawk,  60 

Eagle,  bald,  hunting  teal,  60 

Eagle,  golden,  190 

Eagle,  war,  see  Eagle,  golden. 

Elk,  disappearance  of,  271,  273-275; 
where  found,  272,  275  ;  mild  nature  of, 
272  ;  herd's  trust  in  leaders,  272  ;  foes 
of,  275  ;  travel  in  single  files,  279  ; 
author  tracks,  280,  281  ;  gait  in  running 
of,  281  ;  author  kills,  281,  288,  292, 
293,  296,  308  ;  tongues  of,  delicious, 
282  ;  whistling  of  bull,  290 

Elkhorn  ranch,  9,  221 

Ferris,  deer  hunt  of,  105-107 
Fort  McKavett,  96,  99 
Fort  Terret  trail,  96 

Game  butchers,  138 

Game-zones,  128 

Geese,  43  ;  shooting  with  rifle,  44,  45,  48  j 

with  buckshot,  58 
Gerard,  Jules,  300 
Goose :  Canada,  43  ;  snow,  46,  48 
Greyhounds,  95,  100,  158,  186,  195 
Grouse,  66  et  seq.;  blue,  67,  284 

Hail  kills  lambs,  120 

Hare,  Little  Chief,  285 

Hawk  :  lanner,  60  ;  Cooper's,  60 

Horned  frog,  192 

Hunters,  professional,  30  ;  so-called,  30  ; 

old-time,  31  ;  requisite  for  good,   137, 

142,  157 
Hunting  season  for  deer,  163 

Indians,  driven  from  Bad  Lands,  3  ;  have 
no  claim  to  lands  seized  by  govern- 
ment, 18  ;  plan  for  treatment  of,  in  re- 
gard to  lands,  19;  poor  shots,  157; 
patient  hunters,  157  ;  enemies  to  buffalo, 
246 

Little  Missouri  River,  9 
Lost,  how  not  to  get,  283 
Lynx,  21,  311 

Magpie,  197 


Index. 


327 


Manitou,  valuable  horse,  34,  35,  117,  130, 
149,  170,  172,  173,  195,  206,  210,  213; 
hunting  antelope  with,  203,  204 

Marksmanship,  at  targets  and  wild  ani- 
mals, 36-41  ;  exaggerated  stories  of, 
39  ;  of  old  hunters,  40 

Marlin,  64 

Mastiff  disconcerted  by  fawns,  189 

Meadow  lark,  13 

Medicine  Buttes,  215 

Merrifield,  41,  221-223,  276,  279,  287, 
293»  308,  309,  313  ;  shoots  elk,  282  ; 
kills  black  bear,  306,  307  ;  kills  grizzly 
bear,  315,  316  ;  wounds  grizzly  bear, 

319 

Middle  Butte,  233 

Middle  plains  of  the  United  States,  the 
great,  i,  2 

Mountain  sheep,  220  et  seq. ;  appearance 
of,  226  ;  agility  of,  227 ;  haunts  of, 
224-226  ;  habits  and  characteristics  of, 
228,  229  ;  hints  for  hunting,  231  ;  ad- 
ventures of  author  in  hunting,  231- 
238  ;  killed  by  author,  237,  238  ;  hunt- 
ing, toilsome,  239  ;  as  food,  240 

Mud  holes,  202  ;  horse  falls  into,  266 

Musk-rat,  50 

Nutcracker,  285 

Old  Ephraim,  see  Bear,  grizzly. 

Otter,  50 

Owl,  burrowing,  209 

Pack  rats,   foes  to  books,  12  ;  origin  of 

name,  13 

Plains  sparrows,  13 
Plover  :   grass,  62  ;   golden,  62  ;   plains, 

64 

Pocket-gopher,  208 

Pocket-mouse,  13 

Pot-shooting,  68,  85 

Powder  River,  103,  115 

Prairie,  description  of,  198,  199 

Prairie-dog,  207,  208 

Prairie-fowl,  sharp-tailed,  67,  84  ;  when 
to  eat,  67  ;  rarely  shot  over  dogs,  68  ; 
pot-hunting,  69  ;  author  shoots,  69, 
75-77.  79.  80,  85  ;  habits  of,  70,  71, 
73,  74.  78,  79;  "booming"  of,  70; 


nest    and  chicks    of,  71  ;     habits   of, 
when  flushed,  76  ;  shooting  with  dogs, 
86-88 
Prong-horn,  see  Antelope. 

Quarry  of  ranchmen,  28 
Quicksand,  202,  203 

Rabbits  :  cotton-tail,  94  ;  jack-,  94 

Ranches,  4 

Ranch-house,  description  of,  5  ;  author's, 
II 

Ranch  life,  charm  of,  14  ;  work  of,  15  ; 
decadence  of,  20 ;  offers  chance  for 
sport,  29 

Ranchman,  8  ;  dress,  8,  34 

Rattlesnake,  192-194 ;  girl  killed  by, 
193  ;  cattle  struck  by,  194  ;  in  prairie- 
dog  holes,  209 

Revolver,  33,  68,  186 

Rifle :  Bullard,  32,  33  ;  Sharp's,  32,  38  ; 
Winchester,  32,  185  ;  ranch-gun,  33 ; 
Winchester  Express,  38 ;  and  shot- 
gun compared,  66;  Sharp's,  for  buffalo, 
254,  255  »  Winchester,  for  buffalo,  254, 
256  ;  pea,  298,  299  ;  Winchester,  for 
grizzly,  298  ;  Spencer,  304 

Roosevelt,  Elliott,  brother  of  the  author, 
kills  a  cougar,  26  ;  shoots  grouse,  85, 
88  ;  letter  from,  96  ;  shoots  turkey,  99  ; 
charged  by  buffalo,  251  ;  hunts  buffalo, 
256 

Roosevelt,  John,  adventure  with  a  buf- 
falo, 251 

Rope,  manner  of  throwing  the,  16 

Round-up,  description  of  a,  15,  16 

Sage-fowl,  88  ;  haunts  of,  88  ;  call  of, 
89 ;  habits  of,  89,  91  ;  as  food,  90, 
91  ;  vitality  of  a,  92 ;  a  day's  sport 
with,  92-94 

Sandy,  63 

Shack  mice,  13 

"  Shaps,"  8 

Sheep  hated  by  cowboys,  120 

Shot-gun,  choke-bore,  33  ;  hammerless, 
33  ;  useful  for  white-tail  deer,  115 

Skunk,  63  ;  bite  sometimes  deadly,  63  ; 
Sandy  shoots  a,  63,  64 

Skylark,  211 


328 


Index. 


Skylark:  Missouri,  13 
Slews,  51 

Snow-bunting  sings  on  wing,  14 
Stilt,  64 

Storm,  in  the  Bad  Lands,  119  ;  at  Medi- 
cine Buttes,  217,  218 

Teal,  52,  6 1  ;  killed  swimming  by  eagle, 
60 

Teal,  blue-winged,  52 

Teal,  green-winged,  52 

Thrush  :  hermit,  13  ;  brown,  13 

Tracking,  161 

Trout,  287 

Turkey,  wild,  95  ;  shooting  in  the  roosts 
in  Texas,  96-99  ;  coursing  with  grey- 
hounds, 100 


"  Vic,"  42 

Wapiti,  see  Elk. 

Water,  scarcity  of,  54 

Waterfowl,  43  et  sey. 

Widgeon,  52,  57,  61 

Willet,  64 

Wolf,  extermination  of,  21  ;  habits  of, 
22  ;  attacks  horses,  23  ;  defeated  by 
dogs,  24  ;  courtship  of  wolf  and  New- 
foundland, 25  ;  killed  by  poison.,  68 ; 
stampedes  horses,  264 

Wolverine,  311 

Yellowlegs,  64 
Yelper,  64 


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